Day 189 Dar to Zanzibar

See ya, Dar! We’re heading to Zanzibar! We were both looking forward to a vacation from our vacation on the island. A few days on a beach. A respite. A break is exactly what we needed after what felt like a whirlwind of Tanzania. We caught the ferry early in the afternoon and arrived on Zanzibar, to the expected (by now) taxi-driver gauntlet two and a half hours later. While it is an island, Stonetown especially is not new to the tourist circuit and immediately we had “tourist officials” offering their services. Despite being in a seedy part of Stonetown, Andrew read good reviews about one guesthouse and wanted to check it out. It wasn’t far from the port. We walked. Tourist Official #1 tagged along, introducing himself and informing us we weren’t in a good part of town. I humored him, looking at his laminated identification card on his lanyard and thanked him, while Andrew asked a shopkeeper for directions instead. He waited and walked with us (uninvited) to the guesthouse. That… turned out to be a joke. A way overpriced joke. We left and started walking across Stonetown (not so far really, maybe a mile? maybe less?) to check on the other recommended guesthouse.

En route, Tourist Official #2 offered his services. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and wondered how many men were in on this scam, laminating their own ids and approaching tourists. Instead I shouted ahead to Andrew (as always, I’m trailing behind) “Andrew! Would you believe this kind sir has a guesthouse he would like to take us to? Isn’t that SO NICE of him? And he can help with everything we need on the island!” The “Official” picked up on the fact that we would not be in need of his services and meandered away.

But then, Tourist Official #1 magically reappeared. And this made me super uncomfortable. Either it was a complete coincidence or he was going to walk with us and then collect a commission by telling the owner of the guesthouse that he had brought us there. I couldn’t be too sure and my mouth was a little bit quicker than my mind (which often leads to trouble).

“What are you doing here, you crazy stalker?” I asked in a joking manner, but hoping to convey my I-don’t-want-you-following-me message. He didn’t pick up on my joking tone. He stopped short and his face turned creepy defensive.

“What did you say?” He asked.

“I said you were a crazy stalker.” I replied, now annoyed that he was the one questioning me. He told me he was on his way home or something like that, that could have been believable, only I wasn’t buying it and did not trust him. I like to think that I’ve gotten pretty good at reading other people on this trip. I’m not perfect. But, if I get a weird feeling about someone, chances are they are up to no good. And that’s exactly how I felt about this guy.

“I’ve been to America.” He said totally randomly, as he continued, yet again, to walk with us down the street to the guesthouse at the end.

“Then you would know that what you are doing is wrong!” I said, feeling myself getting worked up over him continuing to follow us.

We ended up taking a room at the guesthouse. Creepy McCreeperson hung out outside of the gueshouse for an hour and even went inside to talk to the frontdesk clerk. Maybe he was just on his way home and happened to be friends with the guys working at the guesthouse, but when we returned to Stonetown the following week, the price (at the same place) was cheaper, so I can’t be entirely sure if he really did get a commission or the guesthouse screwed us over. Regardless, it wasn’t the most welcoming first day on Zanzibar.

Day 125: Chasing dolphins in Oman

When we decided to stop by the UAE, I did not expect we would spend our last day chasing dolphins in Oman. But there we were, on the Straight of Hormuz running back and forth from one side of the boat to another watching for dolphins to surface, and more importantly, looking for the babies we were told were with them! We didn’t get to see the baby dolphins up close, but we were able to see all of the dolphin families. At one sighting, we counted 12 swimming together. Amazing. We also stopped off to jump in and snorkel. Kate and I were babies and stayed on board, not because of the fish, but because of the cold water! The water was so clear that we could see lots of the fish without necessarily needing to get in the water. (At least that’s what I told myself.)

Day 36: Six hours to Siem Reap

Andrew was all about this boat ride. It was six hours and $20.00 (about three hours longer and $15.00 more expensive than the bus) but he heard it was worth it, and so we went to Siem Reap by boat. Because it's currently monsoon (or rainy) season, the trip was 2-3 hours shorter because we could shortcut through the flood plains. This meant narrow channels, branches brushing up against the nylon window cover and boats barely being able to pass each other, and an overwhelming appreciation it wasn't raining. We chatted with an Australian family, we lounged on the roof of the boat, and we took lots of pictures and videos of the "floating villages" we passed through. And then, the best part of the day: we tracked down our friend, Andre, waiting for us in Siem Reap!

When we were approaching the dock, Andrew and I were lounging on the roof of the boat. He scurried down a little bit faster than myself, so we were docking while I was midair jumping down from the roof into the small stairwell into the boat. Simultaneous to my mid-air suspension, a hoard of men rushed the boat in such a flurry that I wondered who was trying to sneak drugs into Siem Reap. All wearing the same shirt, I watched wide-eyed as I settled my feet onto the boat and then was accosted: "You want tuk tuk?" They weren't policemen busting a big drug deal, they were simply tuk tuk drivers completely oblivious to the madness they were creating on board, not even waiting for us to get off the boat! One man was furious, and yelled at the tuk tuk driver who was immediately to my right. The tuk tuk driver rolled his eyes and asked me if I wanted a tuk tuk. "No way dude!" I responded, "You nearly knocked me off of the boat. There's no way I'm going anywhere with you!" Obviously unaware we already had a driver and a room waiting for us, he morphed into the diva he was born to be and just short of snapping his fingers at me, he responded: "See if you get a ride or a hotel in Siem Reap then!"

Momma, you asked what a tuk tuk was, this is it: (Ours conveniently broke down on the way into town, so I took the opportunity to snap a picture for you)

Day 6: Kayaking & Kerfuffle-ing

While the majority of “The Party Boat” was recovering from the previous night, I snuck Andrew up to the roof to do some double pull-backs and a shim sham shimmy. Hey TapKun, (my wonderful tap studio in Seoul, South Korea) this is the first of many tap dances around the world just for you! We kyaked in the rain, we learned how to make spring rolls, hustled it back to Hanoi, and Andrew and I had our first kerfuffle in the midst of the hour we had in Hanoi between one bus from Halong Bay, and another bus heading to Sapa.

Other backpackers (I kinda detest this title I have assumed I should add. I mean, just because I have a backpack- one that I’m not satisfied with, I should add- but will save it for another blog post entirely- doesn’t mean that I’m a backpacker.) Anyway. Other backpackers were a little annoyed at the timing of different Halong Bay activities. Kayaking being one of them. There simply wasn’t enough time they all complained. And Andrew and I found ourselves in the same kayak. (Ha. Get it? Same boat? Same Kayak!) I loved our guide, Coung, and would like to believe that our kayaking was cut short because we were, after all, getting rained upon. It still made for some pretty pictures though, raindrops in the Bay and all, don’t you think?

I find it impossible not to add that I was the only one bold enough to take my camera kayaking. I know, I do pretty stupid things with my camera, and I don’t treat my lenses nearly as well as I should, but hey, at least I was able to take all of these fun pictures of everyone kayaking AND exploring this random cave in the middle of the Bay, right?

After they brief kayaking excursion, we were granted an hour to clean up before our “cooking class” where Coung taught us how to make spring rolls. We all took turns making a couple of spring rolls, and then we sat. while it rained. and we waited for lunch. Which I should have skipped, because I’m pretty sure the chicken is what upset my stomach starting on the bus ride back to Hanoi.

Once we got back to Hanoi, we had about an hour to re-pack our overnight bag, get something to eat, and get ready for our overnight bus to Sapa. Which would have gone smoothly, had I not started feeling badly, and had Andrew and I communicated in a more effective manner. Only, we didn’t communicate effectively at all. I said “crackers.” He heard “water” and went in search of dinner while I waited at the tour agency with an angry Vietnamese man huffing at me, hand gesturing to me, asking without English where my travel partner was. I sighed back, paced, and tried not to think about bathroom related activities and/or the fact that our bus was supposed to leave 20 minutes ago, unbeknownst to Andrew- and he was no where to be found.

By the time he did show up, we were a solid 30 minutes late, and what I would find out to be an over-priced sandwich poorer all because Andrew thought I was hungry, when in fact, I had quite the upset stomach, was yelled at in Vietnamese, and thought we were going to miss our bus to Sapa.

We kerfuffle-ed.

And then in his opinion, we “agreed to disagree” while I rolled my eyes and said “I said CRACKERS! I already had WATER!” as I held up my full Nalgene bottle like he should have known better.

And then we shared the sandwich, because my hunger overpowered my anxiety over my upset stomach and a 12 hour bus ride without a bathroom, and Andrew refused to eat without me eating something as well. (See Mom, I told you Andrew was taking care of me.)

Day 5: I’m on a boat, in Halong Bay

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located about three hours from Hanoi, in Northern Vietnam. It’s gorgeous, and overrun with tour boats and tourists, but worth a visit. The Bay is full of limestone karsts (huge rock formations), caves, and fishermen villages and boats. As most tourists do, we booked a 2 day, 1 night boat trip through the Bay. Our boat held a group of 12 Vietnamese bankers on vacation, and an assortment of Westerners: an older German gentleman who currently resides in Chiang Mai, a Chilean couple in between a move from Spain back to Chile, two younger Brits traveling around, and Andrew and myself.

Many of the fisherman live in little fishing villages right on the water inside Halong Bay. Houses float together surrounded by water, not grass and fisherman boats are tethered to the wrap around decks with netted holes where the catch of the day swim in circles waiting to go to the market. I have to assume that the fishermen detest the big tour boats that pass through the Bay each day. If I remember correctly, our guide said there are around 400 boats operating on a daily basis in the Bay.

One of the highlights of the trip, aside from the beauty of the Bay of course, is the jumping off the boat that inevitably occurs. There’s something magical about lining up on the edge of the roof of a two or three story boat with friends you’ve just made that day and throwing yourself into the water below at the count of three. Don’t let these pictures fool you, Cristina and I jumped with all of the boys anxiously lined up. Unfortunately, the water wasn’t as clean as it was 4 years ago and after our first jump, quite a bit of debris (and oil or gasoline spots?) floated by. Hopefully some green initiatives will take place soon, or I hate to see what the Bay will look like in another four years if the tourism industry continues to expand.

When booking a boat for the bay, there are generally two options: the cheapest boat and the slightly more expensive boat. Backpackers encourage each other to go ahead and pay the extra ($10-$20) for the better boat. I have nothing to compare to, but apparently the cheap boats are really… CHEAP. So when we booked, we thought we were simply going to be on the slightly more expensive boat, we were a little surprised when this option landed us on “The Party Boat.” Our glass of wine and fruit party on the roof was no Cabo Spring Break Party, but it was nice, and it did involve some karaoke- which we dominated, as warned to our new friends, that after 5 and 8 years in Korea we would be awesome.

Here are some blurry photos of us in the dining room of the boat, just to give you an idea of what it looked like.