bye bye Hanoi

So we left Hanoi this morning and I'm now on Cat Ba Island. I really liked Hanoi. I think it is a great city. I talked to a lot of people who didn't like it though. They think it is too hectic, and it is definitely hectic, with all the scooters and cars and people on bikes and eating on the sidewalks and everything. But somehow it all seems to work. And as crazy as it is, it is super easy to walk all over the place, and there is a lake to orient yourself and so even if you get lost it's really easy to sort of find your way. Streets are clearly marked and with my little photocopied map I did really good. I even got us home after our last dinner, because Yo was so tired, and did my classic move, of immediately taking a first wrong turn outside the restaurant, and after we walked for a bit she finally said, she didn't know where she was and wanted to get a cab. But we just looked at the map, and it was easy to figure out. (And I usually have no sense of direction, so this is saying a lot!) So yeah, I definitely want to come back to Hanoi someday.
So today we drove for 2.5 hours and then got on a local ferry for another 3 hours. The ferry was so freaking hot and uncomfortable. It was like wooden benches and we had all our stuff to deal with. You could go outside on the deck and then there was a breeze but that just made it even hotter when you came back into sit down. And the boat was this big old rusted thing. It seems like all (ok, most) of the Vietnamiese guys are sooo skinny. This guy's belt wrapped around him like a full one and a half times. I think they just smoke cigarettes instead of eating.
Anyway, we finally made it to Cat Ba Island, which is the biggest island in Halong Bay. It has a main little street with some hotels and little restaurants, and a few beaches about 10-15 min. away. It's a cute place and our hotel is nice, so I'm happy! Tomorrow I plan on just chillin' at the beach and maybe walking up to the market to check it out. There aren't many people here and it seems like a sort of sleepy place, which is fine after being in Hanoi for the last few days.