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It's a beautiful day at Halong Bay
Entry 37 of 93 | show all | print this entry |
Well, we just got back to Hanoi from Halong Bay and man, that was a good weekend. We spent 3 days, (two nights) in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The first night we spent aboard our 'junk' amongst the karst rocks and islands of the bay. It was fantastic. We dined on fresh seafood for 3 days and took a well deserved break from the 'tour organizing' on our part and left the 'driving' to others. We left Hanoi in the morning and took the 3 hour luxury bus ride to the dock at Halong Bay. From there, we boarded our boat along with 5 other 'ferangs' for the adventure ahead. We were assigned our rooms, got settled and then had a fantastic lunch of everykind of seafood you could imagine. We cruised through the islands to the cave known as "amazing cave". Here we disembarked the ship to wander through this huge cave inside one of the many mountains. The coloured lights really accentuated the many naturally 'carved' sculptures of limestone. It was nice and cool inside which made for a nice break from the dominating heat of the sun. After leaving the cave we sailed to a quiet bay where we dropped anchor and all took a well needed swim in the salty cool water. It was like magic. The group of us all splashing around amongst the georgeous scenery as the sun was going down over the small peaks... magic. We dried off, changed, and then sat down to another amazing seafood feast and a nice bottle of Bourdeau. The stars began to appear in the sky overhead and a slight breeze picked up. It was enough to cool the night down and make for an enchanting evening of absolutely nothing. I just loved it.
The next morning it was raining and we set sail, after breakfast, for a waiting - smaller boat, where we would begin our kayaking. Our tour guide, Bien, assured the group that these were the best made kayaks in the world, and that they were made in Canada. All eyes in our group turned to us as if we should have had something important to say about this comment. A trite "your welcome", or something like that was all I could figure to say, (as if I had anything to do with it). and we were off. It rained for most of the morning but we didn't care. We paddled in and out of caves and rock tunnels all the while. It was warm and the rain actually only served to cool us down as we explored the formations. We stopped for lunch on board our boat and then took in another quiet swim as the rain had now stopped. We then got back in our kayaks and paddled half the way to Cat Ba island where we were to booked to spend the evening.
Cat Ba island is one of the larger islands in Halong Bay. Many of the people here actually live on floating houses in the many small bays and harbours which make up the island. The main thing here is fishing and the boats are out early in the morning doing just that. I got up and out early from our hotel just to go out and about and see a bit of the beaches. Even at 6:30 am the beaches were busy with locals doing their daily regiment and cooling off before the rest of their day began. I returned to our hotel in time for breakfast, caught the bus and we were back on the boat by 8:30. We cruised slowly and ate a small lunch on our way back to the main dock. We borded our bus back to Hanoi and exchanged all important email addresses with our fellow travellers on the way. The magic was over. Hanoi is hot. Hot and sticky. We made our way back to our hotel just as the overcast heat haze rumbles and cracks into a full fledged downpour. The summer storm sends everyone in the market scurrying to find some kind of shelter. Motorbike riders continue to go whizzing past with thin plastic ponchos flapping in the breeze behind them. The sudden volume of water backs up the gutters, streets overfill and the water is everywhere. Life here slows down. But only for a little while, as the rain soon ends and life gets back to 'life in Hanoi'. Only now it seems a little cooler, a little cleaner, a little more bearable.
Latest Comments (1)
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Memories!! (reply)
Jun 20, 2007 21:57 EST by hollywood123
Hi Guys!!
I really enjoyed this entry about Halong Bay... Jordan and I took the same boat trip as you guys did, last year!! It was one of the highlights of our stay in Vietnam! It brought back many great memories! Did you climb the 'mountain' on Cat Ba??
Do you guys have any pictures online?? Jordan and I are really enjoying reading your entries...and would LOVE LOVE LOVE to ... show all
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