Halong Bay

We didn’t have high hopes for our trip to Halong Bay due to our previous tour experiences, and also due to the fact that this tour in particular was very cheap.  It worked out at about £30 a day with transport, food and lodging included. 

We were picked up and then herded onto a packed minibus, the initial signs weren’t good.  But as soon as we got onto the boat things started to pick up.  There were about 15 people on our junk boat, the accommodation was great, as was the food, and to top it all off everybody on our boat were really sound.  We got on particularly well with one couple, Heather and Jamie.  Jamie was a Brummie, and Heather was a fellow Scot, from bonnie Clydebank.  They’d both been working and travelling around Australia for a few years and were have a travelling break before heading off for pastures new, New Zealand.

Halong bay is an awesome sight, and one of the most beautiful natural wonders I have ever seen.  There are more than 300 hundred incredible islands rising from the emerald waters of the gulf of Tonkin.  The limestone islands are of all shapes and sizes, some with rugged sheer cliffs, some jungle covered with smooth contours.  The magical landscape of hundreds of stunning islets is simply breathtaking.  

The other thing that made this tour experience special was the fact that although we were by no means the only boat in the water, there were scores more, the junk boats in themselves had a certain appeal.  The boats were pretty nice to look at, and made for a good photo when capturing the mystical landscape of Halong Bay in the background.  Even though there were hundreds of other people doing the same tour as us, our group consisted of only 15, and we had our own personal space.

 

After drifting through the spectacular gaggle of islands for a few hours we made our first stop at the Hang Dau Go, a huge cave consisting of three chambers.    There were stalactites and stalagmites in abundance, it was really impressive and very big.  The cave was illuminated with floor lighting which gave the perfect glow contributing to a wonderful murky atmosphere.  We didn’t hang around for too long due to the nature of our tour, and the other tour groups behind us.  After my last cave experience in Laos, where I was very unimpressed, this cave visit was a pleasant surprise.  My expectations weren’t high, but the sheer size of the cave and multitude of stalactites/gmites looking weirdly like natures own unfinished limestone sculptures, was a sight to see.

Our next stop was for a spot of kayaking.  It was a great way to explore Halong bay, getting up and close to the islets and caves.  We parked our Kayak on one small beach which led to a deep, dark cavern.  We scrambled across some particularly jagged sharp rocks barefoot to delve into the darkness.  Along with being barefoot we were also torchless and when the light diminished to the point of complete darkness we decided to return to our trusted vessel on the shore.  While paddling back we witnessed a stunning sunset, the sun looked like it was slowly sinking into the sea, with the magnificent backdrop that is Halong bay.    

When we got back to the boat it was twilight.  Tony, our guide, had planned our evening itinerary.  We were to go for a short swim around the boat, followed by dinner, then finish off the day with a spot of squid fishing. Our guide Tony, was a bit strange and slightly, only slightly, irritating.  One of his annoying attributes was to keep referring to himself in the third person.  For example, “Tony will take you to an amazing cave” often while pointing to himself with both thumbs inverted to make his reference clear. 

We got changed into our swim wear and started to launch ourselves of the boat.  I was a bit apprehensive at first, it was dark and I thought the water may have turned slightly cold.  After my first jump into the water I realised I needn’t have been concerned, the sea was lovely and warm and a great temperature for swimming.  We then swam around a bit, then climbed a ladder attached to the port side and repeated the experience until we got tired.

Dinner was another slap up feed, with some fantastic seafood.  We were kind of looking forward to the squid fishing, until we were presented with our tools.  We were given two short bamboo sticks with a couple of yards of line, a hook and no bait.  I personally think “Tony” was just having a laugh at our expense, there was no way we were going to catch any squid without any bait.  But by God did we try.  Even though we were unsuccessful it didn’t hinder our spirits.  It was a nice serene experience dipping the rods/sticks in and out of the water while chatting with Jamie and Heather.

The fishermen/women ventured indoors after our arms got tired.  We started playing my favourite card game “shithead”, although the rules vary drastically from region to region, and person to person.  I explained my rules, but the rules that Jamie and Heather were used to were completely different, this lead to a very confusing game, and we kind of gave up after a short while.

At the start of our travels Nev couldn’t help himself when somebody enquired about our travel plans, he would give them his well rehearsed Wonder’s mission spiel.  He’d become quite subdued about it in recent months partly due to the fact that I told him it got on my nerves slightly, he wouldn’t launch into it unless somebody would ask him specifically about why he was travelling.  We’d been talking with Jamie and Heather and the subject of natural world wonders was one of the main topics of conversation.  Halong Bay had recently been voted, in a worldwide vote, as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  As the subject was being discussed at length I brought up the subject of Nev’s travel plans.  Most people are fairly impressed on hearing of Nev’s three year travel plans, but Jamie was absolutely enthralled.  This was probably due to the fact that’d we’d been drinking a fair amount of vodka that Heather had smuggled onboard and kindly shared with us.  We ended up staying up until the wee small hours, while Nev went through every candidate on his world wonder list, upon Jamie’s request.  I must say Nev’s research, knowledge, and fairly weird obsession is impressive.  Even though I’ve heard about his wonder candidates umpteen times before, it’s still interesting to hear him list them off and explain the history and architecture of the buildings.

I woke up the next day with a stinking hangover and missed breakfast.  We set sail midmorning and I joined Nev, Jamie and Heather up on the main deck.  We were all feeling a bit rough and decided that the hair of the dog was definitely the best medicine to cure our hangovers.  After a few beers I felt a bit more normal and ready for our first stop, an island where we were to go for a short cycle and walk. 

Cycling is my thing, and I was looking forward to it.  When I’m on a bike, I like to cycle fast.  Cycling slow to me is kind of like walking on a tread mill, tedious and a bit frivolous.  As soon as we got our bikes, I put some pounding techno on my mp3 player and went for it.  I didn’t care that I was looking like a prat pounding away on my peddles while everybody was slowly meandering around taking in the scenery.  I was in the zone, and I was loving it.

I got to our destination a fair while before everybody else, I had time to cool off a bit and stop sweating.  We regrouped, had a wee snack and a short walk.  On the return leg the chain managed to come off my bike.  On a single speed I thought that this was a near impossibility, but I succeeded in doing it anyway.  It was a great effort trying to put it back on again and my hands were absolutely filthy afterwards.  I cycled back a lot slower after the chain incident not wanting a repeat occurrence. 

We then got back on the boat and set off for Monkey Island.  Upon arrival we’d realised we were in our own little tropical paradise.  There was a beautiful beach with a handful of beach huts, there were amazing views of Halong Bay, and the best thing was only our group were staying there…  apart from us.  There was a mistake when we made the booking and we were staying at a Hotel on nearby Cat Ba Island.  We had an ever so short stop at Monkey Island.  We had lunch followed by a paddle in the wonderfully warm and bright, clear turquoise sea before Tony started harrying us to leave.  I begged Tony to stay, but there was no room at the inn, and he wasn’t taking me up on my suggestion of sleeping in a hammock, for “safety reasons”.  It was very depressing saying goodbye to our new friends, and our recently discovered tropical paradise.

Jamie and Heather Relaxing on the Junk Boat

Cat Ba island wasn’t so bad, it just wasn’t Monkey Island.  There were another elderly couple who opted for the Hotel.  We joined them for dinner, and they had some good chat.  The guy turned out to be a retired Pilot, who’d worked in Nigeria on a rotational basis for several years in the 70’s.  We traded Nigeria tales, although he won the trade off, some of his stories were belters. 

After dinner we found a pool bar with the most difficult and warped pool tables I’ve ever played on, well apart from Nev’s old pool table in Market Street.  It was a curious bar inhabited solely by Vietnamese men, with a wall at the back of the bar functioning as a urinal.  We attempted to have several games, and also had a shot a traditional Vietnamese pipe.  It looks kind of like a bong, minus the water, and I thought it looked very suspicious, until I realised it was used only for tobacco.

The next morning we picked up the rest of the guys from Monkey Island and got our bus back to Hanoi.  Heather and Jamie decided to change their travel plans and meet us in Hue for a day before heading off for their next destination of Hoi An.  They’d already booked a Hotel for their return to Hanoi, while myself and Nev were getting the train that night.