Day 5: Boat Trip and Floating Bar

Taking a small bus to a port, we boarded a 50 person, 2 story boat with a bunch of other tourists. Aussies, Swedes, Russians, Canadians, Asians, and us! A melting pot of the seas. We toured 4 islands, but sadly the temperature did not make it above 70 degrees. Snorkeling and swimming were a challenge, but we persevered. There was some coral and neat fish, but nothing too spectacular. Kevin did have some digestive problems and had to ask Mark for some makeshift toilet paper...


At the "2nd island", we tied together with another boat and ate a traditional vietnamese lunch of noodles, soup, squish, egg, and some meat. All of it served at the same temperature of the air outside! Not bad, all in all. This is where the fun started happening. A Vietnamese band formed on the boat, with 2 guitars, a singer, and a full drum set. The singer/MC promised that they would play a song for each country in each language (with the help of a television). They played Madeline for Australia (a song the young Aussies admitted they hated and hadn't heard since year 3), a Russian power ballad, and a drinking song for the Swedes. Then it was our turn. With the microphone in my hand, I was ready to belt some American pride. And they decided to play an inaudible rock song. The French women encouraged me to sing along. I made up some lyrics, but it was mostly just confusion. So they played an encore. "Zombie" by The Cranberries. The Cranberries are Irish. And only the Vietnamese and Thai still like this song. Pure confusion, pure fun!


Next, one of the band members stripped down to his speedo, jumped in the water, and started drinking wine straight out of the bottle. At this point, it's raining, 60 degrees, and we just ate a cold lunch. The only thing that is getting us in the water is if this guy starts dancing and looking ridiculous. And he does just that. So we all jump off the second deck, splash the people in the boat, and chug wine with the crazy Vietnamese man! YO! (Another situation where only pictures will really do this justice) On to the next island!


Nap Island. We each pay 10,000 Dong ($0.50) to sleep in beach chairs for an hour. Nap Island. Really?

Aquarium island. We pay 25,000 Dong ($1.25) to check out some crazy big fish, feed snapping turtles, and fool around on huge likenesses of fish, crabs, and a shark. Kevin and I even surfed a stingray! Not sure if these were supposed to be climbed on, but when in Rome! This is the type of aquarium that shows you tanks of fish and then has fresh squid and fish sandwiches at the snack bar. AKA the best type of aquarium.


With that, the tour was over and our night began. We hung out with the Aussies we met on the boat, 3 guys and 2 girls traveling together. We took them to Bia Hoi and then our favorite barbecue spot again. It was too good to pass up!


At a bar later, we all played Jenga together, and Joe (6'2") did the chicken dance with a 4'10" Vietnamese girl after he lost. I played a round of Jenga with a girl that everybody else labeled a girl of the night, but I think she was just friendly. Not wanting to risk it, we called it a night at this point to gear up for our train ride back to Saigon the next day!