Defining Happy

Halong Bay

I took a tour to Halong Bay today.  I desperately wanted to make my time in Hanoi go by faster.  Vietnam overall had honestly wore me out and I had started to doubt myself and my ability to handle whatever obstacle came my way.

I said a prayer last night and asked God to show me if I was on the right path or some random detour that I had mistakenly taken. I was off to Korea in two days on a one way ticket and really wanted some answers.

The tour van arrived at the hotel on time and the guide introduced me to another passenger that was in the van.  He was a Korean business man who had been living in Vietnam for 2 years and spoke four words of English at most.  I greeted him with a “Hello” in Korean and he seemed a bit taken aback but returned the greeting with a smile.  After we picked up all of the passengers we were asked to introduce ourselves and tell where we were from.  We then headed off along our 3.5 hour journey to Halong Bay.  But this wouldn’t be Asia if we didn’t stop midway through to “go to the Happy Room” which is code for “the bathroom that just so happens to be inside of a souvenir shop full of ish you do not need and a restaurant serving free food for the driver and tour guide”.  I already knew the deal and quickly used the restroom and made a B line to the back of the building where our van would be waiting.

As I stood outside on the stair waiting for the van driver to finished eating, the Korean man walked up beside me and tapped me on the shoulder.  He pointed to his cellphone and said “Serengeti” then showed me a few videos of his time in Africa.  Since New York is apparently the same as Africa I just went with it.  I knew he was trying to find some kind of way for the two of us to relate beyond the fact that I knew a few words in Korean.  I appreciated the gesture and stood back as he showed me about 60493458 videos and pictures on his phone.

My ride

When we arrived to our boat on Halong Bay this guy was by my side most of the time.  He insisted on using my camera to take photos of me.  And directed me to several different parts of the ship to get a good shot.  He even asked one of the girls on the trip to take a photo of the two of us with his phone.  I know it sounds weird as heck but I actually didn’t get the feeling that he was trying to hit on me or anything.  This was confirmed when he pointed at himself and said “father” and told me his age.  I wouldn’t mind a wealthy Korean sugar daddy (just kidding) but I felt more like he was taking me under his wing.

Photo taken by random Korean businessman

Me and random Korean businessman

Since the Japanese girl, that just so happened to be my bunkmate at the hostel and booked this particular tour, left my side when she found other Japanese people on the van I appreciated the company.  I felt that the kindness shown by the Korean man was a confirmation that my heading to Korea was the right thing to do.  I also believe that the random videos from Africa were a head nod from God that my adding Africa to my list was a good look.

Because there’s always room for one faux top model photo. Don’t worry he didn’t take this one I did.

Halong Bay was an amazing place and is one of those places that you have to see in person to really appreciate it’s beauty.  The makeshift vegetarian meal that they through together for me plus the seven hours of travel time in a van whose air-condition blew like someone was whispering in your ear left much to be desired but overall it was a great tour.

Working hard

“I’m hone-gry!” These cats got ridiculously medieval on this food. Like it was the last supper.

Again…because sleeping on the job in Vietnam is acceptable.

I love candid photos..

In regard to my onward journey…I’m looking forward and figuring this thing out as I go along as always. Koh-Rea (how the old folks say it) here I come.

*NOTE: I promise I’ll post all my photos from the entire trip sometime in the next month. I have over 5,000 so far so going to take ages.”