In the past 169 days I’ve traveled across 12 countries and through 27 cities. A big chunk of my time has been in South East Asia, so it’s probably comes as no surprise that things seemed to start repeating themselves. Vietnam has been awesome, but it feels like I’ve I done this all before in Cambodia and Thailand… that’s until “Castaway”.
Even though the trip cost more then bribing the Ukraine government to let me into Chernobyl, it was still worth the $220. “Castaway” is a boat cruise you do through the “Hanoi Backpackers” Hostel. It’s essentially a boat trip on the beautiful Ha Long Bay with one day on their private island and two nights of partying with other ‘Castaways’.
What makes it different is their amazing private island with a small beach surrounded by sheer cliffs. By day you can go rock climbing, wake boarding, play volleyball, kayak, or just do nothing.
The nights are made interesting by the way they stagger the guest arrival to the island. When you show up on the boat, there’s already a crew of Castaways waiting who have been their since the previous day. You party through the night with them and then they leave early in the morning, leaving the island to you and your crew. Your last night, it happens again; a boat shows up and you have a new set of guys and girls to party with, then it’s your turn to leave in the morning. So if you like the laws of probability; you have three chances and two night to “get it right”. Unfortunately the laws apparently don’t like me.
It’s a formula for an amazing time and has broken the redundancy of; beach, city, museum, tour, repeat. Regardless, I think I’m about ready to say goodbye to South East Asia and go somewhere fresh. Tonight I’ll head to Sapa which is up in Vietnam’s mountains near China, shake off the effects of Ha Long Bay and the Tet New Years, then head to Cambodia where I’ll settle in for a two weeks to play catch up, take care of some busy work and start working on a trailer. From there it looks like Sri Lanka, India, then Trekking in Nepal are up next… tough life, I know.
PS. The second day, two of the legendary guides pulled me aside and said they wanted me to apply to become a Castaway guide… When you die you’re suppose to see your life flash before your eyes, at that moment I saw paradise, pure bliss and babes flash before my eyes… But the show must go on and I would miss all the hours of typing on my computer, backing up videos, getting releases signed, doing research and everything that is the Backpackers Union. Shit, what am I talking about, I think I messed up…
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