Day 220: A Sampan Boat Ride — Hunkered in the AC Again
Before we go on, we must immediately address something hilarious related to yesterday’s post about rats.
Tonight as we were getting ready for bed, Teddy had an a-ha moment. He said, “I think I figured out the rat thing. Something got lost in translation. These aren’t rats. I think they are BATS.”
Evvvvvverything makes sense now. The little bird-like roosting sounds, the chirping (we googled it, bats chirp), the whole nocturnal activity thing, the living in the rafters, the not coming in to steal our complimentary fruit plates, the total nonchalance of the reception staff.
I couldn’t stop chuckling. One because of COURSE it was bats and not rats. We’re such idiots. And two, the fact that we were SO OKAY with the idea that F***KING RATS would be scurrying over our heads all night!! Dying.
Hahaha, freakin bats. Ahhhh, that’s good stuff.
Anyway, back to the day — one in which we’ve had a lot of time to just chill, think, talk and… write poetry.
Our friend Jay in Lijiang mentioned Kiran was writing some haiku. So Margaret taught Willa about it in their school time, and now has a haiku for everything.
On today’s Sampan ride:
Water buffaloes’
ears, flapping like bats
disturbed in a cave.
On tranquil water
we glided, the only sound:
Oars rowed by her feet.
On pandas:
Cute pandas may munch
bamboo like lollipops, but
their pink babes repulse.
On touring:
A walk through temples —
ancestors, history, stone —
constant whining, too.
On overly attentive service people:
“We’re doing just fine!”
We reassure everyone.
Yet still, they ask us.
At lunch today the conversation went from haiku to limericks. I wrote a couple of my own:
There once was a family who traveled.
Their first flight to Jamaica was frazzled.
But after 55 more,
Silky smooth door to door,
This team just can’t be unraveled.
And one about our rat friend who we realized later is actually a… bat.
There once was a rat on the roof.
In daylight he’s very aloof.
But after the days heat,
He gets itchy feet,
Dancing the night away like a goof.
Before leaving on this trip I assumed we would have countless free hours to read, watch movies, just chill. I was actually afraid that I would be bored for long stretches of time and convinced myself that would be good for me.
It would have been good for me — but it just hasn’t happened.
The primary mistake was that I didn’t take into account the amount of time and attention the kids will require. But our days just disappear without a lot of time for things like… writing poetry.
OK, back to our day…
We planned to take a sampan (traditional row boat) ride and thought that given the heat, going early was the best call. Turns out we also beat the crowds and had the water to ourselves.
It was about a one hour and 20 minute excursion. We walked 5 minutes from our hotel to meet our lady captain on the canal. All four of us piled into a metal bottomed boat — which kinda reminded us of the small excursion boats we used on the Rio Negro in the Amazon.
Our captain wowed us by rowing with her feet.
This wasn’t a 10 second party trick for a better tip. She rowed for the entire time with her feet!
It was a peaceful ride. The canal wound through the limestone rocks, protruding up from the rice paddies. We passed lily pads with cartoonishly beautiful flowers and water buffalo having breakfast on the side of the canal.
Most memorable (and spooky) were the three caves we went through, especially the third which was huge, completely dark and filled with bats. My thoughts immediately turned to the Thai soccer team incident. Eeek.
We were back at the dock by 8:40am and headed for breakfast with a completely free day ahead of us.
We did a couple hours of school in the Air Conditioning and then headed for the pool.
Willa and James befriended a little girl named Sophie.
She was with her mom, dad and two teenage siblings —an Israeli family traveling in Vietnam for a month. We chatted with the mom for a bit. She’s an architect and has been hired to advise on a Vietnamese project so it’s a work / holiday trip for them.
After lunch the kids went with Sophie to her siblings’ room for a couple hours while Margaret and I did some research and planning for some of the next several months of our trip.
After a few more stops in Vietnam we head to Cambodia, then Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and… recently decided, we’ve planned a soft landing with a week in Hawaii over the New Year.
We went back to the pool in the late afternoon. I enjoyed a G&T and a gorgeous sunset while the kids played with Sophie and another little girl — I think a daughter of one of the staff of the hotel.
Margaret felt like she was getting a cold so decided to skip dinner.
I took the kids and we played guessing games: first, Guess the Show Character. I stumped them with Sky from Paw Patrol. After giving a hint that we have this character as a toy, James’s gears started turning. Then he wondered out loud, “Is it, you know, that boy?… that boy with all the animals?”… Willa and I looked at each other — what’s he talking about?? James continued, “You know, we have the toy, what’s his name… Jesus?”
Holy crap he was talking about our toy crèche that we had out in the apartment in December before packing up.
(Mom, if you are reading this, I’m sorry!)
So funny. Willa and I were dying.
Then we shifted to Guess the Toy from our New York Apartment. I stumped them on the basketball hoop. It was funny / amazing to walk through their play area inch by inch and see what they remember.
After two and a half super chill days here at the Tam Coc Garden Resort we’re headed out tomorrow AM for a 4 hour drive to Ha Long Bay, beginning three days and two nights on a Junk Boat.
