Vietnam 3/22/2013

Friday 3/22/13 - Hanoi to Halong Bay, Kayaking

What felt like mere moments later, the conductor knocked on our cabin door at 4:45 a.m. to announce that we would soon be arriving at the train station in Hanoi. Wow, we had both slept very soundly on the train. It felt like we had just gone to bed! Craig had been a bit concerned about his ability to get a proper night's sleep when in motion, but luckily it hadn't been an issue, as the motion of the train and the click-clack of the steel wheels moving over the rails had lulled us to sleep.

We looked out the window. It was still dark, and we were rolling through farmland on the outskirts of the city. People were starting to emerge from their houses, ready to start a long day's work. When we disembarked from the train, we found ourselves back in Hanoi. It was still dark, and there were people everywhere, getting off the train, collecting their luggage, and being picked up by local transportation. Cuong and a porter were right there waiting for us with our luggage in tow. We were at Ga Ha Noi, the French colonial train station with its hub rebuilt in Soviet-style after the war. Though it seemed like a lifetime had passed since we last laid eyes on this train station, we were actually only 2/3 of the way through the trip. We were only passing through town quickly, on our way to the coast.

Mr. Giang had made it safely back to Hanoi and was waiting for us. It was nice to be reunited with him. Craig's MS medication requires cooling, soi he had been kind enough to drive the medicine back to Hanoi in the cooler so that it wouldn't overheat while we were on the train with no access to refrigeration. Once again both he and Cuong had gone above and beyong to make the trip as comfortable as possible for us.

We hopped into the car and drove through 5:30 a.m. Hanoi traffic to a hotel where we could freshen up before driving to Halong Bay for the next phase of the trip. We arrived at the Skylark Hotel, and Cuong went to the reception desk to check us in. He was told that since he didn't re-confirm the reservation, they had not held a room for us. Though they spoke entirely in Vietnamese, the word "re-confirm" was spoken in English. Cuong would tell us later that the Vietnamese word for "re-confirm" is very long, so the English word has crept into their vocabulary as a shortcut.

For the first time in the trip, Cuong was visibly flustered. So far, the logistics had all gone like clockwork. He and Mr. Giang worked very hard to make it look effortless. Everything just worked. Cuong was not at all pleased, and he made his disapproval known to the desk staff. Though we couldn't understand the words, it was clear that the desk clerk was telling him that they did not have a room that they could give us.

We told Cuong that it was fine, that we had showered before the train and we were sure that there was some sort of shower on tonight's boat. But Cuong would have none of it. He had promised us a shower this morning and he was going to deliver. "My house is very close. We can go there." This was very sweet, but we didn't want to show up unannounced at their house at the crack of dawn, disrupting their morning routine.

Someone at the hotel suggested that Cuong try the Marigold Hotel, which was apparently just a couple of doors down. We walked over and Cuong talked to someone at the desk. They had a vacancy, so Cuong booked us a room. He told us to take a nice shower and eat some breakfast, and that he and Mr. Giang would be back to pick us up at 8:30.

We rode the small elevator to the 4th floor. The building was very narrow, and took up a small footprint, the way that many buildings in the city did. However it was quite tall, with 10 stories. Each floor only had a handful of rooms. The boutique hotel was newly built. Though room #403 was small, it was clean and modern. There were two twin beds several inches apart, with a large brightly colored photograph of a ladybug on a yellow flower above them. It felt like an interior ship's compartment, as there were no windows. There was a nice marble bathroom with a large shower. We showered and took the opportunity to write some postcards. We had been so busy that we hadn't really had a chance to do this until now. We started with our grandparents, who are always our first priority in terms of postcards.

After freshening up, we took the elevator up to the 10th floor restaurant. A young Vietnamese man rode with us. He greeted us in English and asked about our trip. He was visiting Hanoi with his family.

When we got to the 10th floor, the elevator door opened and we stepped into the dining room. There was a buffet line and some tables inside, as well as an outdoor patio roofdeck, with a sandstone dividing wall blocking the urban view to surrounding rooftops and making it appear more like a courtyard than a roof. We went through the buffet line and sat at one of the indoor tables. We were the only Western tourists in the place. As Vietnamese families enjoyed the buffet breakfast, they looked at us with curiosity. The adults avoided our gaze shyly, while the toddlers outright stared at us.

We enjoyed the breakfast buffet of fried rice, grilled chicken, yogurt, fruit, cheese, bread, orange juice, and coffee. A baby at a neighboring table did something really cute. Everyone laughed, including us, and suddenly the ice was broken between us and the local tourist families.

At 8:30, Cuong and Mr. Giang picked us up and we headed off to Halong Bay. It was Friday morning rush hour, and the traffic was very heavy getting out of Hanoi. We were once again back in our comfortable Toyota Innova, with its Vietnamese and American flags on the dashboard. We got another glimpse of the stunning milennial mosaic wall from an overpass. We weren't sure how long the drive would be, but Mr. Giang had stocked us up with fresh water bottles and as usual the time flew as we engaged in very interesting conversations.

On the outskirts of the city, we passed an industrial zone, with large power plants. Then later as we got into more rural areas, we passed a monument commemorating the place where Ho Chi Minh stopped at a rest area while accompanying a dignitary to Halong Bay in 1962.

Cuong told us that on our way, we would stop at a good place to buy souvenirs: a handicraft cooperative started in 1996 to teach people with physical disabilities to make and sell various types of artwork. He explained that there have been many people born with births defects attributed to Agent Orange during the war, and also DDT used in the rice paddies after the war.

Even many of Cuong's close friends (his brothers-in-arms from the war) had children with birth defects. Cuong and Nhung are quite lucky that both of their children were born healthy. Cuong attributes it in part to the fact that he was very careful about the water that he drank in the jungle during the war. In five years, he only drank unboiled water twice, when he was absolutely desperate. Once he hadn't had anything to drink in 2 days. When confronted with water in a stream, he couldn't be picky and boil it first, so he just started to drink it. A flare went off during the course of the battle and he was able to see that this water which was giving him life was also water in which many lay dead or dying.

Cuong was very specific that he wanted us to write about his war experiences and attitudes in our blog. We realize that these are sensitive issues, and we asked whether he could get in trouble for expressing them. "I've been expressing them for twenty years," he told us. He handed us a photocopy of an article from the San Diego Union-Tribune. At his brief visit home this morning, he had thought to grab it for us. "Vietnam: What Is It All About?" by James D. Jameson. Cuong was Mr. Jameson's guide and interpreter during an interview with a Vietnamese Foreign Minister in the early 1990's. He had echoed to Mr. Jameson the same sentiments he had described to us: that he doesn't feel that Americans should feel that they lost the war. They were fighting against the expansion of communism, and the Vietnam that they have today, with a freer economy, probably wouldn't have evolved without the war.

This very interesting conversation brought to an end as we pulled over at the Hong Ngoc Fine Art Company, the cooperative where handicraft sales benefit the physically disabled artisans. Many tourist buses were stopping here. It had a large parking lot, and when we went into the restrooms, we could tell by the number of stalls that this rest area must get many visitors.

Cuong told us that we would see the artisans creating their works inside the showroom. We feared it might feel exploitative of the artisans, but as we went inside, we realized that it did not feel like that at all. We entered a vast room where beautiful embroidered tapestries (tranh thêu) hung framed on the walls. Stacks of unframed tapestries of all sizes were piled up on tables everywhere you looked. The workmanship was exquisite. There were many motifs to choose from, from portraits to landscapes to abstracts.

Sales people swarmed around the many western tourists who looked through the stacks of embroidery. They were there to answer any questions and help, and were not pushy at all. Rows of artisans sat at tables, doing this delicate work. We definitely wanted to purchase some embroidery. It was beautiful work and the money supported a great cause. We just couldn't make up our minds as they were all so beautiful.

Cuong told us that he would order us coffee at the snack bar while we decided what to buy. We pored through stacks of embroidery. As we pulled aside ones that we liked, our sales associate tried to locate other sizes of the same motif, or other patterns which were similar in subject matter or color. But we really never felt any pressure. She assisted us by becoming an extension of our eyes, as we couldn't possibly look through all of the stacks ourselves. We wanted to buy a piece comprised of very delicate needlework. After much deliberation, we finally decided on an embroidery piece depicting pink flowers and blue mountains reflected in a lake. It was very detailed, and looked more like a watercolor than embroidery.

Once we decided on the one we wanted to buy, our salesperson rolled it up and packaged it for us. She led us out of the embroidery room, through a jewelry showroom, and into an area which had a row of cashiers. We now realized that the embroidery was only a small portion of what was for sale here. There were people using sewing machines to make clothes, and there was a section of ceramicware.We saw some adorable magnets depicting the different ethnicites of Vietnam, and we added a couple of sets to our order. Though our salesgirl had priced our items in Vietnamese dong, the cashiers had all of the exchange rates and could instantly convert them into any currency desired. They accepted just about any currency, yet another glipmse into just how massive an enterprise this was.

They even have a mini-post office right in the store, helpful when shipping their merchandise all around the world. We were able to buy stamps here and mail the postcards we had written earlier in the day. We headed over to the snack bar with our purchases, and drank the coffees that Cuong had purchased for us. Though he hadn't hurried us along at all during our shopping, it was clear that he was getting edgy and was ready to leave. After my coffee, I wanted to get a couple of photos of the embroidery room. I ran back (it was amazing how huge this place was) and snapped a couple of photos. When I returned, they were already all outside in the car waiting for me. Cuong wasn't kidding that he was now in a rush!

Back on the road, we passed a second place where Ho Chi Minh had taken a rest room break. This one was commemorated by reforestation of trees. Cuong said jokingly that if Ho Chi Minh had taken more rest room breaks, maybe then deforestation wouldn't be such a problem today.

We arrived in Halong City. A lot of work was being done to widen the road here. We saw many houses which had been half demolished to make way for the wide road to this popular tourist destination. People were still living in them even though walls were torn down. Cuong said that if the houses were legally built, the owners will be compensated by eminent domain. But some houses were built illegally here, so they lose everything if the house is torn down. I guess this explains why people were still trying to go about life as usual with a road running through their living rooms. We were literally looking at a cross-section of houses.

Eventually we could see the ocean and the limestone pillars rising out of it. It looked even more other-worldly that the inland karst mountains we had seen up north. We arrived at the marina in Halong City at around 12:30 p.m. It was swarming with people: tourists waiting to board their boats, crew shuttling supplies to the boats...a veritable hive of activity. There were cement staircases leading down to the water, reminiscent of the ghats we had seen in India.

There were small shuttle boats moored at the dock. The bigger boats were out further in the harbor. This portion of the trip was run by a local company named Sea Canoe. We met our Sea Canoe guide, who was also named Cuong (this was bound to be confusing!), and our captain and crew. We said goodbye to Mr. Giang, as we would be meeting up with him again after two nights on the boat. We got onto a shuttle boat and put on life jackets as the crew loaded all of our luggage and supplies onboard. When everything was ready, we wound our way through all of the other shuttle boats and out toward the larger boats. We had no idea what to expect in terms of a boat. At times the crew had to literally push our way in between two other boats. Cuong pointed out rule that stipulated that all of the boats originating from Halong City had to be painted white. It must have been a great boon for the white paint industry in the area.

We pulled up alongside the Hoa Binh 28, a large white wooden boat which would be our home for the next two nights. It looked big enough to accommodate about a dozen guests, and we wondered who our fellow passengers would be. We climbed aboard and realized immediately that we had the whole boat to ourselves; there were no other guests. The boat was beautiful and spacious, with a dark wood interior.

The crew showed us to our cabin at the rear of the boat, which contained a double bed and an adjoining private bathroom with shower, toilet, and sink. There were towels folded into swans arranged neatly on the bed. We had large picture windows on two walls, as well as a private balcony with a table and two chairs. It was quite comfortable. There was also an adjoining room which was the mirror image of ours. Together the two rooms took up the rear of the boat. The crew told us to feel free to use both rooms. We said that our room was fine, and we didn't want to dirty two rooms. They insisted that we should spread out, use both bathrooms so that we could shower simultaneously, etc. The rooms had air conditioning, but it couldn't be turned on until the boat's motor was running. Cuong got settled into his room, which was kitty-corner to ours.

We decided to explore the boat while the captain and crew were preparing to set sail. There was a large interior dining area with a bar, buffet tables, and a dining table. The table was set for two, and we immediately insisted that they add a place setting for Cuong. There were French doors at the rear of the room which opened out onto the deck. Cuong realized that he had forgotten the rice wine in the van. We said that was no problem, but he insisted that since we enjoyed it so much, we had to have it. He said that the other Cuong also liked to share a toast, so there was no question in his mind when he sent someone back to the docks to pick it up from Mr. Giang.

It was amazing to us how luxurious the boat was. We had assumed that there would probably be other guests on this part of the trip, but we should have known better. Toni at Myths and Mountains had totally hooked us up. I guess the dayroom at the Marigold Hotel this morning hadn't been absolutely necessary after all. The shower situation was quite nice here.

The captain fired up the engines and we were on our way. The ocean was very smooth; no threat of seasickness here (though we had come prepared with motion sickness medication just in case). We went out onto the deck, where there were tables and chairs set up behind the wheelhouse. We climbed up a set of stairs to a top level deck which had rattan lounge chairs surrounded by many potted plants. Half of the deck was shaded by a large bimini top. Cuong gave Craig a Ha Noi beer and he gave me a Diet Coke. I tried out one of the lounge chairs. It was very comfortable. We could get used to this life for the next couple of days.

The views were spectacular. There were karst pillars at various distances, and they appeared as various hues of gray and dark green in the haze that gathered on the horizon. They were tall islands that rose steeply out of the water, with vegetation seemingly magically clinging to their sheer rock slopes.

We were soon called down to the dining area for lunch. I don't know what we were expecting in terms of food on the boat, but we certainly didn't expect something as elaborate as the spread that greeted us. Three whole crabs sat looking up at us from a serving plate. There was another plate full of cucumber slices which had all been elaborately carved into fancy shapes, with a tomato peel rose in the center (we knew from our prior experience in Hanoi how delicate and difficult a job this was). Squid was served with lemongrass and garlic. We also had fried chicken, fish, fried tofu, cabbage, and rice. It was all delicious, and there was way too much food for three people. The young crew had a very delicate touch with the food, and we enjoyed it very much. If we had been expecting to "rough it" in any way, we were pleasantly mistaken. In fact, we felt just a bit uncomfortable having such a large crew to serve just the two of us. It seemed very extravagant, and was quite frankly a little overwhelming.

As we made our way away from the mainland, we saw a large cable-stay bridge which resembled the Zakim Bridge in Boston. With our bellies full following the delicious lunch, "Sea Canoe Cuong" got out a nice map of Halong Bay and showed us where we would be going for the next two and a half days. Halong Bay covers an area of around 1500 square miles, and consists of over 3000 limestone (karst) islands rising up from the sea. The name "Halong" means dragon descending, and there is a legend that says that a dragon spat out jade and jewels that turned into the islands in order to confound enemy ships who were trying to take the bay.

Unlike many of the boats in the area which do day trips and return to the docks in Halong City at night, our boat has a safe place to anchor overnight in the areas where we would kayak, near Cat Ba Island. He showed us the area on the map. We prepared for an afternoon of kayaking. We changed into our bathing suits and changed to new memory cards in our cameras (just in case of any accidents in the water, we didn't want to lose all of our photos from the trip so far.) The crew inflated two kayaks on the deck while we enjoyed the views of the gorgeous karst pillars layered against one another in the distance. Having used a lot of inflatable kayaks in his younger days, Craig felt a bit guilty that we didn't even have to inflate our own kayaks. The crew was taking care of everything for us. When Craig expressed this, Cuong quickly brushed the concern aside. "You are on vacation! Relax! This is our job!"

At around 3:30 p.m., we reached the area where we would be doing our kayaking. We climbed down a metal ladder on the side of the boat into our 3-man inflatable kayak. We were very careful not to do something stupid and tip the kayak while getting settled. "Sea Canoe Cuong" sat in the back, Craig sat in the middle, and I sat in the front. Cuong and another of the crew members got into a second kayak. Cuong had his nice camera to get shots of us during our paddle.

As soon as we were in the water, two women operating a floating snack approached us in their boat. They waved and asked if we wanted to purchase anything. We thanked them but told them that we were all set, as we had our water bottles with us and plenty of food back on the boat.

I tried to keep in synch with "Sea Canoe Cuong" in terms of paddling. Being in the middle, Craig didn't have a paddle. Although we were sitting in a little bit of water that got into the bottom of the kayak when we got in, the water was so calm that there was no danger of getting our cameras wet or anything like that.

The limestone karst formations rising out of the water are remnants of a sea bed of coral and sea shells. Over the years, erosion has formed them into pillars that rise majestically from the water. At the water level, the karst is often undercut and caves have been formed. The water was a turquoise blue, and we paddled straight toward one of these caves. We entered the cave and it was pitch black inside. We heard voices, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Then we saw flashlight beams. Two people in a red kayak were in the cave pulling clams off of the rocks. "Sea Canoe Cuong" had a spotlight which he shone to reveal small stalactites and glittery minerals along the walls and ceiling of the cave. As we turned a corner, we could see daylight streaming in from the other end of the cave. This cave was actually a tunnel which led straight through the center of the karst formation.

We emerged into a hidden lagoon on the other side. It was as if we had passed through a portal to another world. It was so peaceful and beautiful. As we paddled, we could see sea life such as sponges and clams below the water's surface.It was a good thing that the inflatable kayaks were every sturdy, so they could withstand brushing up against some sharp clam shells. From this hidden lagoon we could no longer see our boat, or any other boats in the general area. There were no other signs of civilization.

After enjoying our paddle around this hidden gem, we paddled back out through the same cave. The tide was coming in and water was filling up the lagoon. We were paddling against the current. At one point we hit some shallow water in the cave and got hung up for a minute or two, but soon we were able to continue and we once again saw light at the end of the tunnel. We emerged to see our boat once again. "Sea Canoe Cuong" explained that different areas are accessible at different times of day, due to the variability of the tides.

We paddled along silently, taking our time and soaking up the atmosphere. We saw a few other kayakers. The Cuongs called out to them, asking if they had seen any wildlife. Apparently there are monkeys in the area. They said that they hadn't seen any. This was disappointing, but they were a larger group and were talking and making some noise. Maybe we would fare better being a smaller, quieter group.

We paddled through a second natural cave/tunnel running through a different karst pillar. The rock formations were amazing. This was about as opposite from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi as you could get. We totally lost track of time and were fully immersed in the experience.

Before we knew it, the Cuongs were asking, "Are you up for one more cave?" Daylight was waning, but we weren't ready to quit yet. We paddled through a third cave and emerged in a grotto that seemed lost in time. We paddled around quietly.

We saw a tree shaking far above us on one of the karst pillars, and "Sea Canoe Cuong" pointed out a white-headed langur (also known as a Cat Ba langur). They are one of the most endangered primates in the world, and there are only 40 known to exist today. We couldn't believe our luck to actually see one! We could hear it chattering as it swung from the trees. We could easily make it out with the naked eye, but our cameras didn't have a good enough zoom to capture an image of the langur. Luckily Cuong was able to use his zoom lens to get one. It didn't come out as clearly as he would have liked (the langur was far away, it was moving, and we were on a moving kayak), but at least he captured it.

I looked back at Craig sitting behind me in the kayak and he was absolutely beaming. As if the scenery here wasn't beautiful enough, we had a rare wildlife encounter too! This day just kept getting better and better! The Cuongs were also beaming, utterly thrilled to be able to share this unique experience with us.

Then "Sea Canoe Cuong" directed our attention a few trees to the left, where there was a yellow-faced common monkey holding its baby looking down at us. This was unbelievable. Once again, Cuong was able to capture it digitally. Thank goodness we had decided to go into this one last lagoon. It had proven to be the highlight of the paddle.

As the sunlight waned, we happily paddled back out through the cave tunnel and back to the Hoa Binh 28. We climbed up the ladder from our kayaks as the sun began to set. We had kayaked for just over 2 hours. Cuong looked through the photos he had taken and Craig and I went up onto the top deck to enjoy the twilight scenery. The captain brought us to where we would anchor for the night, near Cat Ba island. There were some other boats anchored in the vicinity as well, and we could see their lights reflected on the water in the distance. But we were far enough away to still have our privacy.

After sunset, Craig and I both took showers. Cuong and the crew insisted that we shouldmake use of the second bathroom so that we could take our showers at the same time. When we came out on deck, fresh and clean, Cuong and one of the crew were setting up for some karaoke. Cuong had mentioned it in passing before, but we had thought that he was kidding. Now here they were, connecting a karaoke machine to a TV to provide some evening entertainment. At the bar area, they turned on some Christmas lights and a disco light to set the mood. This was just too much!

Cuong explained that he wanted to demonstrate different types of Vietnamese music for us. He started out with a Red Song, called "Song of the Long Mountain." Red music, or Nhac Do, is a class of patriotic songs. They come from northern Vietnam, and were officially sanctioned by the government during the wars against the French and the Americans. Red Songs have a marching beat, and were used in a martial context to motivate soldiers. They are associated with the color red because it is the dominant color in the Vietnamese flag.

Cuong has a very nice singing voice, and the microphone had a slight echo effect, so he sounded very professional. After the Red Song, he sang a Yellow Song. This class of songs was from southern Vietnam. During the wars it had been illegal to sing them and could get the singer arrested and put in jail. Yellow Songs, or Nhac Vàng, were usually emotional ballads, and quite often were about anti-war themes. They were associated with the color yellow because it was the dominant color of the South Vietnamese flag.

Then Cuong performed a Brown Song. These were the folk songs of the farmers, identified by the color brown because it was the color that farmers used to dye their clothes. Cuong had started out singing in a seated position, but he got more and more into it as he sang, and he wound up standing and dancing along to the music.

He told us that the fourth category of music was the Blue Song, which were songs from abroad. Today the Vietnamese can sing or listen to any music that they want. After singing a couple more traditional Red, Yellow, and Brown Songs, he burst into Boney M's "Daddy Cool", which I guess would be an example of a Blue Song.

Cuong provided great entertainment, and taught us a lot. I was starting to think that I would probably be performing my first ever karaoke before the evening was out. I wondered what songs this machine contained that might be even slightly familiar to me. Before I got a chance to explore the options, dinner was announced. Craig looked at me and I could tell that he was thinking, "Food again, already? Didn't we just eat lunch?" His stomach hadn't been feeling 100% perfect while we had been out in the kayak, and he wasn't hungry at all yet.

Cuong poured us shots of rice wine and we toasted with a hearty "Chuc suc khoe!" Cuong assured us that "Sea Canoe Cuong" also enjoyed rice wine, and that he would be joining us for a toast later on. Dinner proved to be more elaborate than even lunch had been. The presentation of the food was exquisite. Prawns and mantis shrimp were arranged in a wine glass which also contained vegetables carved into the shape of tulips. It looked too pretty to eat! Crinkle cut French fries were served on a plate which had a heart-shaped ring of finely cut cucumbers around it, as well as a rose carved from a carrot. A plate of rice had carrot "petals" radiating from it, making the whole thing look like a lotus flower. Wow, the young crew sure was talented in the culinary department. We also had clams, potato dumplings, beef with onions, and spring rolls. Everything was delicious. Craig looked overwhelmed by the whole spread. He was only picking at his food, which alerted me to the fact that his stomach still wasn't feeling very well. Ordinarily he would be digging into this wonderful bounty of food with gusto.

Craig started to overheat, even though the temperature in the dining room was quite comfortable. He decided to stop eating, and headed out onto the deck to get some fresh air. The French doors were open, so we could still communicate with him and he could still be a part of the conversation. Cuong and I finished up our decadent meals and had another toast. I knew that it was killing Craig that he was not feeling up to joining in. I went to our cabin to fetch our photo album from home and took the opportunity to show Cuong the photos. With all of the traveling around we had been doing, we had never had a good opportunity to do so until now. Cuong enjoyed looking at them, and told us to make sure that we brought the photos to his house when we have our farewell dinner so that we could show his wife and sons.

We noticed that Craig had gotten up from his seat and had gone over the starboard railing. I had a feeling that he was probably getting sick. Cuong and I went outside to check on him, and that had indeed been the case. The whole crew was very good about it, and they soon served him some ginger tea to try to help to settle his stomach. We hoped that whatever was bothering his stomach had been expelled, and that a good night's rest would be all that Craig needed to be back to his normal self tomorrow.

Craig retired to our room shortly before 9 p.m. to try to get some rest. Cuong and I stayed up chatting for a few minutes, and had another toast. Then I decided that I should probably check on Craig. We said goodnight and made plans to meet for breakfast before going out kayaking again in the morning.

When I got into the room it was quite hot. The air conditioner was actually blowing hot air. We managed to turn off the flow of hot air, but it was still very warm in the room, and we could smell diesel exhaust from the engine. Craig was already in bed, though he wasn't asleep yet. I got him an antibiotic, just in case it was something more than indigestion. I wrote in the journal and then got into bed myself.

Halong Bay