A Long Way to the Top
Halong Bay, 13th to 16th May 2002 (Part 1)
As I'd got back to the hotel so late last night, I had a nice long
lie-in until midday. The day passed quickly and quietly. Andy, Gilad
& I spent the afternoon searching through the CD shops of Hanoi. The
CDs only cost 10,000Dong (50p) so it's a great chance to expand our
CD collections! However, because they are all copies, it takes time
checking that each CD works properly.
In the evening we decided to book a 3 day trip to Halong Bay
starting from tomorrow. We booked the trip at ODC Travel. They're
not the cheapest, but you pay more to have a better time and go in a
smaller group. Although you can pay about 2/3 what we did, when you
pay that little you usually get stuck in a group of about 50 people,
which kind of ruins the experience.
The next morning, we woke early and were picked up by a top quality
mini-bus for the 3 hour trip to Halong Bay. Our group size was a
comfortable 8: Merika (a Dutch Lady), Sal & Eric (2 American guys),
Dave & Lorna (a couple from England), Andy, Gilad and me. Our guide
introduced himself by the English translation of his name, River. He
was a great guy who could speak pretty could English.
During the ride to the bay, the rain started to pour. Lightly at
first, then with a vengeance. The rainy season was starting in
earnest. When we reached the harbour, the rain was falling really
heavy, so we sheltered in a waiting room while the boat was sorted.
We all decided to buy some really funky (not) thin, blue,
transparent ponchos to protect us from the rain. We looked like a
right group of weirdoes, 8 of us standing there wearing the same
silly rain jackets.
Anyhow, we soon boarded the boat and it looked really posh & cushy,
it was going to be a comfortable, if rainy ride.
On the first day of our tour we visited a few famous caves of Halong
Bay. They were REALLY touristy, very well organised, but possibly
the most touristy thing I've seen in Asia so far. Very easy stairs &
paths were carved into the rocks to make it easy going for everyone.
Also, dozens of fluorescent lights, in many bright colours, were
fitted everywhere, giving an almost 'disco-y' feeling. Still, the
rock formations, stalactites & stalagmites were really impressive
looking. After a walk around, we moved back to the boat, and were
happy to find that the rain had stopped, the clouds had gone and the
sun was starting to shine.
We continued our cruise around Halong Bay, one of the most famous
natural wonders of Asia. We sailed past many huge, impressive
looking rock formations, jutting proudly out of the calm blue
waters. As we moved slowly around the peaceful bay, we all sat on
the top deck, chatting, drinking beer and enjoying the atmosphere &
the sun. We made one stop on the way to give us a chance to swim in
the refreshing, cool waters of the bay. We all quickly put on our
swimming things, then started diving & jumping from the roof of the
boat. It was great fun and we stayed in the water for ages. We had
to be careful, though, because there was a strong current in the bay
that kept trying to pull us away from the boat.
In the afternoon, a small, simple boat pulled up beside us with a
set of buckets filled with live crabs & HUGE shrimps. River informed
us that they wanted to sell them to us. Ah, hassling at sea, a
little different to the kids selling postcards & guide books in
Hanoi! Sal, one of the American guys, decided he fancied a
mid-afternoon snack, so jumped down to their boat to check out the
animals & start bargaining. River joined him to help the
negotiations. After 30 minutes of hard bargaining, Sal managed to
get about 20 big shrimps (about 30cm long each) and a couple of
crabs for a few US dollars. And for a small tip, the crew cooked
them in beer for us. Unfortunately, I can't eat most seafood, so I
didn't risk eating any, but it was good fun watching them trying to
work out how to eat the huge shrimps!
When the evening came, the boat stopped at Cat Ba Island. 'Cat Ba'
means 'Island of Beautiful Women', so Eric, rather less eloquently,
named it 'Hot Chick Island'! Andy, Gilad, Dave, Lorna & I had taken
the option to spend the first night sleeping on the boat, while the
other 3 were staying on the island. We sailed slowly through the
bustling port, boats moored everywhere in this busy car park for
boats, before reaching land and dropping off the other people.
About an hour later, the boat had pulled out to a quiet part of the
bay, a good 1 or 2km from the port and moored for the night. We ate
a huge, delicious meal on the top deck. On each meal we had on the
trip, we had a large selection of communal dishes, where we picked
out what we wanted then dropped them in our own bowl before eating
it. We each had more than our fill and the food was delicious! The
only problem is, even though I've now got the hang of chopsticks,
eating rice is much trickier than eating noodles. In the end, I ate
it the Vietnamese way: holding the bowl right next to your mouth, so
the distance you have to move the food is minimal. Shovelling the
food in this way looks a bit...um...ungraceful to my Western eyes,
but as they say; When in Rome!
In the evening, we started by playing card games just for fun. After
a while though, to make things more interesting, Dave persuaded us
to buy a bottle of Whiskey (only US$7 between us for a large bottle)
so we could play some real drinking games. It became
an...um...interesting evening. But I think I really learned some
useful skills & games for university life!
The cabins on the boats were a bit basic & nothing amazing. The
Lonely Planet said that sleeping on the boat was really worth while,
but I don't think it was anything special. Still, the room was clean
& quiet, and in the morning we had the option to have an early
morning swim.
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