When I plan for a trip, I usually try to use the time as effective as possible to make the limited time I have in visiting a place count. Sometimes this means a trip full of activities; great experience, but could be exhausting. One thing I learned was to have a plan but not getting stressed out if certain details don’t go as originally planned. Another important aspect is to keep a pace that my body can take; there is no point going through the experience exhausted or even at the risk of impacting my health.

On the last day of our Ha Long Bay cruise, we had another opportunity for kayaking. However, it was quite a cold morning, and we were told that we had to be ready and packed up by around 10:30 am before a brunch that would be served on our way back to Ha Long City. That meant very little time to get cleaned up and packed up, especially if we try to squeeze in another session of kayaking. Kristi and I decided to skip that activity and instead slept in a little and took our time to relax and get ready.

Some of the guests did go on the kayaking trip. They went around the private island where we had dinner the night before. In the mean time, I had everything packed, and spent the rest of the time on the upper deck hanging out with Dave and others talking. Quite relaxing and a nice change in pace, especially after traveling and doing so much in the last few days.

The photo below was taken on the top deck of the junk boat. The boat had a sun deck that we didn’t use on the previous couple of days because it’s too cold out there, but some of the guests did use these for some time to relax in the absence on having anything else to do.

Among the guests on our Ha Long Bay cruise there were a couple from the United States who was in the middle of an epic journey to travel around the world. David and Kim were doing the cruise with Kim’s family (mom, brother, sister, and brother-in-law). Kim’s mom was originally from Vietnam, so this trip was also a nice homecoming trip for her.

Kristi and I had a chance to talk with David during our cruise. David said that they planned out the trip for quite a while, saved up for it, and started the journey almost a year before they reached Vietnam. They packed up their belongings in their home in New York City and started the journey that took them to countries in South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. They decided to meet up with Kim’s family for the Vietnam part of the journey. That must be quite special, as she got to share part of her experience traveling with her family in her mother’s home country, and even to celebrate her birthday there with the family.

From Vietnam, they would continue their trip to Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia. Kristi provided them with some suggestions on places to check out in Bali. As I write this blog post, I did some google search to see if I could find a website that David told us they had set up during the trip to update their friends and family about their adventures. I couldn’t find the web site, but I did find David’s flickr photostream that had photos from their journey. It looked like now they’re settled in the West Coast, and since then had started a family and now they have a young son.

The photo below was taken by Kristi while we were kayaking on the first day of the trip.

We went back to our junk boat after we were done with the memorable dinner inside the cave on the island in Ha Long Bay. But before everyone headed to their cabins for the night, the Dragon’s Pearl crew asked everyone to head to the dining room instead. They said our tour guide Smiley had some announcements to make before we end the night.

We were already pretty tired after a long day, and some folks looked like they’re about to fall asleep as we waited in the dining room for Smiley. Then the back door opened and Smiley came in with all of the Dragon’s Pearl crew members, all with big smiles. The chef and head server came in with two cakes on platters. It turned out that they had a surprise birthday celebration for two of the guests who had their birthday during our trip. Del’s birthday was the previous day, and Kim’s birthday was that day.

We sang happy birthday, and then Smiley opened up the mike for anyone to say or sing something in their own language (other than English) to congratulate the birthday ladies. Dmitri said something in Dutch to wish the two ladies happy birthday. Then Kim’s sister suggested that Kim and Dave did a short swing dance like what they did during their wedding a little more than a year before. Apparently they were quite good dancers, and it’s pretty impressive to see them dancing in the middle of the dining room on the boat that didn’t have much room to maneuver.

That was quite nice of the crew to throw the birthday celebration, especially as both ladies had their close family members (Del’s brother and Kim’s husband, mom, sister, brother, and brother in law) to celebrate the occasion with them. Another great touch to make the trip memorable to the guests.

Here was Del with her birthday cake afterwards before we had the cake cut up and distributed to everyone to enjoy.

There is a saying that you should not judge a book by its cover. This refers to the tendency that sometimes we form opinion or judgement on a person or situation based on what we’re familiar with in the past or certain stereotype that we know. During the trip to Ha Long Bay, we were reminded about keeping an open mind and not falling into this way of thinking.

One of the groups in our Ha Long Bay cruise was a young couple named Dmitri and Nina. At the beginning of the cruise, when asked by our guide Smiley, Dmitri introduced himself and his wife Nina as a couple from the Netherlands. While we were on the upper deck of the Dragon’s Pearl on the second day, Dmitri did said hi to us and greeted us in Indonesian. He mentioned that he lived for a couple of years in Jakarta when he was young as his father was a diplomat stationed in Indonesia. He and Kristi had a brief conversation about that, but beyond that, we didn’t interact much with them during the first half of the trip. They pretty much kept it for themselves, though they did occassionally talked with Hannah and Sophie whom they shared the lunch/dinner table with during the cruise.

Dmitri’s wife Nina was pretty quiet most of the time, though I noticed her taking photos of the sceneries around with her Canon DSLR and the recognizable white 70-200 mm L lens. So I thought she might be quite a serious photographer to have and bring that lens on a trip like this.

During the candlelight dinner at the cave, Kristi and I ended up seated at the end of the long dining table, next to Dmitri and Nina. As such, we had some conversations with them through the night. I think it started with Dmitri continuing his conversation with Kristi on what he remembered of Indonesia. While they’re doing so, I had conversation with Nina, and I didn’t quite remember how it started, but we ended up having a good discussion over the dinner and I learned more about this couple and the rich life experience they’ve lived already.

What I learned was that while the couple was officially from the Netherlands, they had actually lived in many places in the world. Dmitri’s father was a diplomat, and as such, he had lived in several countries including Indonesia. He went to school in the United States at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. I’m not sure if that’s where he met his wife, but Nina also went to the same school. And after finishing their study, they also worked and lived for some time in Washington, DC, where I live. They were in the middle of a vacation trip in Southeast Asia before heading to Europe and then continuing back to the place where they call home then, Kigali, Rwanda. That was another interesting discussion I had with Nina, where I mentioned about what I learned and experienced during our visit in Cambodia, and how it’s comparable to Rwanda. Both countries had gone through difficult times after civil war and genocide, and now are in the process of rebuilding. Nina said she worked as a consultant to the government of Rwanda to help coming up with ideas on improving the economy of the country. It’s quite a difficult task as the country didn’t have much of natural resources, nor it’s located as strategically as other countries.

After the dinner, when we went back to our cabin to retire for the night, Kristi mentioned her appreciation of this couple and what they do in helping others in developing countries. She also said that before the dinner conversation, she thought Nina seemed to be pretty cold, unapproachable, and the impression changed after we got to know them better. A good lesson to not assume things from what you see on the surface.

I took the photo below during our visit to the Cong Dam floating village earlier that day. Here was Dmitri and Nina on another row boat. You can see him enjoying the scenery while his wife was taking photo with her Canon DSLR.