True Stories in Short

While walking back from a water puppets show in Hanoi, Ray got blindsided by a soccer ball in the stomach. The whopping kick came from a little girl about 7 years old and I saw the whole thing happen before it actually did. I watched as she and a friend passed the ball back and forth. I saw her jump forward and rear her right foot backwards and connect her toe with the side of the ball just so. My eyes widened as I saw the ball lift off the ground and come hurtling towards us with great speed. I heard the smacking sound as the ball made contact with Ray's stomach. I nearly collapsed with laughter and couldn't even pretend to hold it in.

On our first day in Ninh Binh we decided to rent motorbikes. It was raining pretty heavily but thought we would make for Cuc Phuong National Park anyway. The plan was to head for the park, stopping to see a floating village and the ancient capital of Hoa Lu on the way and then spending the night at a guesthouse in the park. For the trifling sum of $5 per day we decided to splurge and each get our own motorbike. I, having never actually driven a motorbike, felt confident that my years of experience driving a standard transmission car would prove useful in learning this new skill. Armed with a raincoat, an ill-fitting helmet, and my overnight bag, I boarded the beast ready for an adventure on the open road. The man started it up for me and showed me where the gas was. I turned back on the handle and away I went. The only problem was that I was not told that when I wanted to stop I not only had to pull on the hand break, but I had to let up on the gas. Needless to say I did not perform this task correctly and I found myself careening toward a pedestrian. I lost my balance, and my bravado, and both me and the bike tipped towards the road. I suffered a couple of pretty impressive war wounds and ended up bleeding all over the sheets that night. We didn't make it to Cuc Phuong that day.

You know the scene in Jumanji where they roll the dice while playing the game and they end up in the middle of a monsoon? Yesterday, we did finally make it to Cuc Phuong National Park. It was still raining a little bit but not enough to deter us like it did the day previous. We got to the park, visited the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, took a beautiful scenic drive into the center of the park, had lunch and then started our trek. The trek was an 8 km hike through the jungle on a trail of moderate difficulty. It was sprinkling enough to warrant our raincoats but not enough to detract from the majesty fo our surroundings. The trek took us to a 1000 year old tree in the heart of the forest and then back around to the central starting point. Just about the time that we made it to the tree, which was about halfway, the skies opened up and started dumping obscene amounts of water on us. At that point raincoats weren't even the issue. There was so much rain that the trail turned into a veritable raging river and the concern was no longer about staying dry but keeping from getting swept away entirely. Unfortunately the rain caused most of the animals to go into hiding so all we saw was a lizard, some gigantic butterflies, the tail end of something furry that moved too quickly to identify, and some jungle crabs. Despite it all, the landscape and scenery were absolutely breathtaking and the day as a whole was my favorite so far.

Within the bounds of the national park are a number of caves. One that was on our way to the 1000 year old tree was the Palace Cave. About 45 minutes into the trek we came upon the cave and walked into its cool mouth, thankful for the chance to get in from the rain. Because it seemed that most of the park was devoid of any visitors but us, we decided that it would be fine to hang up our wet coats and packs on some rocks before proceeding onwards. The travel book suggested that a flashlight was necessary for viewing the inside of this cave indicating it was rather deep and well...cavernous. We started into the cave thinking little of it. Afterall this was probably the third or fourth cave we had ventured into so far, what could be the big deal? As far as caves go this was a pretty nice one. The ground was relatively even and the ceiling was high so walking wasn't that difficult. The flashlight we had only illuminated an area about ten feet in front of us due to its small size and the steaminess of the cave. The further we traipsed into the caves belly the quieter the sounds of the ouside got and the more distinct the sounds of the inside became. The sounds on the inside of the cave were mostly that of dripping water, crunching gravel and squeaking bats. Being the avid spelunkers that we have become over the last couple of days, we were in no way deterred by the bats. Afterall, I attempted to nurse one back to health and keep one as a pet when I was little. Every now and then Ray would shoot the flashlight up to the ceiling to see if we could see where the bats were sleeping. Up ahead of us we saw a massive crevace in the ground right before the cave started to turn right and shrink in size. It was right at this juncture that the squeaking became the loudest. Knowing that the bats were probably disturbed by our presence we stopped and remained absolutely quiet as we shone the light around us. Nope no bats there, none there either, I wonder where they are hiding? Then, as our eyes followed the flashlight up the side of the crevace, up the far wall, and onto the highest point of the ceiling, there we saw them. The ceiling was no longer made of limestone but of crawling, writhing, hairy little bodies. The sea of slumbering bats spanned an area about 20-25 feet in diameter and just as our flashlight landed on them one or two swooped down to avoid the light. At this we turned on our heels and booked it out of the cave faster than you can say "Happy Halloween!"