Dragon in the sea
We joined a tour group that took a three hour minibus ride from Hanoi to the harbour of Hai Phong where a flotilla of graceful wooden junks waited for the daily tide of tourists to arrive.
Since the boats were all packed in together with just a few next to the dock, we reached our chosen vessel by hopping from boat to boat, walking along the gunnels, trying not to lose our balance with our big packs on and fall into the muddy water below. When a boat was ready to leave it would break free from the huddle with an angry roar of its engine pushing its neigbours in all directions until it escaped.
We cruised out into Halong Bay, enjoying the view from the rooftop deck chairs, admiring the approaching limestone islands and the small armada of other junks heading the same way. The legend says the archipelago was formed when a dragon ran into the sea, breaking up the mountains with its tail leaving the eerie-looking islands that poke vertically up out of the water.
We stopped to traipse around an artificially lit cave - known locally as the Suprising Cave, as it is suprisingly beautiful, or suprisingly big, I can't remember which.
In painful silence, I endured our guide's explanation of how stalactites are formed, which Katie smartly avoided by walking on ahead. Just when I thought he had finished and I could make a run for it, he started on about stalagmites and it just seemed too rude to turn away mid-flow.
However, the view from the mouth of the cave made it all worthwhile, and back on the boat again we dropped anchor in the middle of the bay and the crew went below to prepare dinner while we enjoyed the sunset from the roof.
I looked out again before bedtime and we were floating in a big ball of darkness with just a few lights from other boats bobbing in the distance revealing our neighbours. We spent the night in our cozy wood-paneled cabin and we woke to the call of vendors in small boats around us trying to sell us snacks.
We were dropped off on-shore on Cat Ba island, where we went for a short, steep hike up to a watchtower with a great view and a few more insights from our guide in cryptic English.
We went kayaking in the afternoon where we saw some little floating fishing villages and then spent the night in a hotel on the island. The next day we rejoined our boat and made the return journey, arriving tired but content in Hanoi where we treated ourselves to a big bowl of spaghetti.
I'm a little disappointed with the food in Vietnam after all the buildup. The main problem for me is the issue of having to remove things (bones, grizzle, cartilage, sand) from my mouth - in my book, once it gets to your mouth you shouldn't have to be worrying about which parts you swallow. Maybe it will get better as we go South again.
Since the boats were all packed in together with just a few next to the dock, we reached our chosen vessel by hopping from boat to boat, walking along the gunnels, trying not to lose our balance with our big packs on and fall into the muddy water below. When a boat was ready to leave it would break free from the huddle with an angry roar of its engine pushing its neigbours in all directions until it escaped.
We cruised out into Halong Bay, enjoying the view from the rooftop deck chairs, admiring the approaching limestone islands and the small armada of other junks heading the same way. The legend says the archipelago was formed when a dragon ran into the sea, breaking up the mountains with its tail leaving the eerie-looking islands that poke vertically up out of the water.
We stopped to traipse around an artificially lit cave - known locally as the Suprising Cave, as it is suprisingly beautiful, or suprisingly big, I can't remember which.
In painful silence, I endured our guide's explanation of how stalactites are formed, which Katie smartly avoided by walking on ahead. Just when I thought he had finished and I could make a run for it, he started on about stalagmites and it just seemed too rude to turn away mid-flow.
However, the view from the mouth of the cave made it all worthwhile, and back on the boat again we dropped anchor in the middle of the bay and the crew went below to prepare dinner while we enjoyed the sunset from the roof.
I looked out again before bedtime and we were floating in a big ball of darkness with just a few lights from other boats bobbing in the distance revealing our neighbours. We spent the night in our cozy wood-paneled cabin and we woke to the call of vendors in small boats around us trying to sell us snacks.
We were dropped off on-shore on Cat Ba island, where we went for a short, steep hike up to a watchtower with a great view and a few more insights from our guide in cryptic English.
We went kayaking in the afternoon where we saw some little floating fishing villages and then spent the night in a hotel on the island. The next day we rejoined our boat and made the return journey, arriving tired but content in Hanoi where we treated ourselves to a big bowl of spaghetti.
I'm a little disappointed with the food in Vietnam after all the buildup. The main problem for me is the issue of having to remove things (bones, grizzle, cartilage, sand) from my mouth - in my book, once it gets to your mouth you shouldn't have to be worrying about which parts you swallow. Maybe it will get better as we go South again.
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