Truly majestic
Trip Start
Apr 01, 2008
1
6
20
Trip End
Jul 24, 2009
Halong Bay,
Halong Bay,
Vietnam
Saturday, April 26, 2008
There are a bunch of tours from Hanoi to Halong Bay and I'd done a bit of online research and had heard a few horror stories e.g. rats on board, terrible food, overcrowding etc. So after denying many attempts by our sleazy concierge in Hoi An to sell us a tour (quite possibly the most irritating character we've met so far), we ended up doing a 'deluxe' 2 night cruise with Asia Pacific Tours on recommendation of our new receptionist in Hanoi (who we have nicknamed 'Handsome'). I dunno if I would classify it 'deluxe' per se, but it was swish enough, and we got a slight discount because Paddy is a Man United fan.... I had to sit that conversation out!
Anyway, got to Halong City and boarded a restored junket. Actually I think it was built in 1995 but they were going for the ancient feel nonetheless. Our fellow passengers included another group of Irish (can't get away from them!), a Danish family, and 2 beer guzzling couples in their 60s... I kid you not, these guys could drink and I have never seen anything quite like it! We had nicknamed them 'The Folk Band' and it turns out they actually were a folk and irish band (which they thought was hilarious if you said that very quickly). Anyway, they got completely smashed that first day/night, as you do when you start chopping back the Tigers from 10.30am, as well as consuming their own whisky hipflasks and wine that they'd brought onboard.
Just lie back and relax!
Too many renditions of Waltzing Matilda that evening, as well as my constant concern that one of them would fall overboard... Back to the scenery though.The boat was pretty cute and our berth had a little deck which was a bit of a novelty for 5 minutes or so. But the limestone karsts that came out of the water as we approached the horizon were truly breathtaking! There's over 3,000 of these formations and I'm sure we only saw a few of them... I took plenty of photos, however there's only so many photos of rocks that you can really take!
We headed to Sung Sot Cave or 'Surprising Cave', which was full of more, you guessed it, rock formations. Some of these were specially lit up, including one 'surprising' rock that has been strangely illuminated red... a photo has been attached for further explanation! A lot of tourists from different boats visit this cave, and the small bay below was like a giant parking lot for boats, and it would seem that you could not get away from the blaring of horns, as just like the city, the boats were not holding back beeping at each other. I personally think there are too many boats in Halong Bay, and that there should be some sort of limitation to the amount of tourist boats, even if that means increasing the price... I dunno, could be logistically diffficult, but the smell of fumes and the noise in that particular spot, was a bit dissapointing.
We landed on an island and could swim or do whatever... we chose to climb another bloody hill, although this one was relatively timid.
'Surprise'
More photos taken, and back to the boat to berth for the night in one of the bays. It's quite interesting as there are some floating villages in Halong Bay/Cat Ba island and some of the ladies go round in boats as quasi-floating-convenience stores. 2nd day we spent kayaking and that was also pretty impressive. It was pretty funny seeing some of the folk band in their respective kayaks... I don't think 2 of them were able to get out afterwards as they were jammed in. A really nice BBQ lunch on one of the islands, the name escapes me. Headed to Monkey Island after that, which was originally named for the monkeys that inhabit it. They come pretty close although seemed to get pretty agressive, so I stayed well clear, despite my rabies immunity.
Stayed in Cat Ba Island 2nd night, pretty run of the mill, although we always get excited when we have English TV. Went out for a few drinks afterwards at one of the pubs, very Westernised though, don't want to stereotype... but I will... andthere were far too many drunken British backpackers (such as those you would encounter in the East Coast in Australia) for my liking!
Anyway to sum it up, a pretty good time away, possibly the best yet! To say our guide was 'proficient in English' as advertised, would be a huge overstatement. We also had some near-death experiences n the 3.5 hr drive back to Hanoi, and being in a window seat (and over the wheels making for an extra bumpy journey!), I seriously was bracing myself for impact... but I've lived to tell the tale. Training to Sapa very shortly, so no danger of car accidents now.
