Dang Nam

Today, we went to a fishing floating village. We were escorted by locals on a paddle boat and greeted by the head of the village (in Vietnemese and translated by our tour guide Huong (or Bobby as he says...)). There were so many things I learned-for example, the company who runs our tour cruise has an owner who is quite philanthropic and donated $50,000 to fully cover the building of a new school in the village. There are 150 families here, and happiness is palpable. I also learned that Huong learned English by watching satellite TV from his Uncle's place (you know...Cartoon Network he says). I was surprised they had a satellite. For the record, his English is pretty darn good. Also, the village gets water from either the grotto, which collects rainwater naturally or through a vat they put out to collect rain themselves. The Vietnemese government sends doctors to the villages twice per month for the medical care of these locals, which I found quite amazing for a third world country.

Probably what strikes me the most is the self-sufficiency with which people live. I mean-we are pure wasters of everything on that side of the world. Or so it seems to me now. Or should I say in the West.

We just got back from kayaking, which was a bit more frustrating today than yesterday. Srin and I are not very good in all our noviceness and were constantly moving like a snake! But the scenery was breathtaking. Apparently 500 million years ago, tectonic plate movement created the formations in these pictures. A second movement only 250 years ago created more.

We are about to head to dinner, which will be in a CAVE! This trip just gets better and better.

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Location:Ha Long Bay, Vietnam