Advertisement
Published: March 12th 2007
Edit Blog Post
View Of Halong Bay
Beautiful Isn't It? Heading back to the mainland, passing by inhospitable islands of barren rock topped only with gnarly trees I couldn't believe my three days had already passed. Chirping birds and soaring hawks replaced the constant motorbike horns and pestering touts of Hanoi. I couldn’t help but to ask, “Can we go again?”
On the Water
Boarding our ship a light mist encased towering mountains and ranges farther out took on a mystical blue gray colour. After fueling up on lunch we stopped at a sandy cove and headed up a dirt path that led to the viewpoint. The sun made an appearance and the sweaty uphill climb proved to be rewarding with stunning views back towards Halong City and the endless bumpy skyline that lay ahead. To cool down we braved the water swimming along the rock walls until we reached a cave. From afar, the cave looked enticing, yet as we approached it became eerie with green algae growing on the walls and the water changed from aqua green to black from lack of sunlight. Unfamiliar with sea caves my imagination got the best of me and I was convinced that the cave was home to sea creatures (maybe a
Halong Bay
Setting Out Onto The Sea Of Dragon's giant octopus?) that surely would eat me for lunch, worst case scenario. Best case scenario, I would touch something slimy and freak out. We took a pass on cave adventures and swam back to the beach.
From the beach we visited Surprise Cave filled with coloured lights highlighting different limestone formations: a sea turtle, an elephant, a bear, and a "surprising" lifelike formation (we won't ruin it for others planning a visit).
Anchored for the night in a bay with 30 other boats we had planned to snack on M&M's and sip Napa Valley red wine, bought in Hanoi especially for the trip. However, our plans came to a halt when the captain of the ship brought out a paper indicating that there was a surcharge for drinks not purchased from them: $5 a bottle for wine and 5000 dong per beer. And to ensure there was no escaping the surcharge the captain came around later with a flashlight inspecting the alcohol hiding spots. A peek under the loungers, in the water holding tanks, behind the flower pots. Top security. Now the surcharge may not seem like much, but I only paid $8 for my wine and beers
bought from the rowboat ladies only cost 10,000 dong! In protest I sat sober sulking about no wine, while Jarrod tasted their selection of beers on board.
Mean Crabs and Crazy Spiders
The following morning after a breakfast of white bread (not toast) and butter (no jam or pb)we landed at Cat Ba Island and loaded into an awaiting van. At the side of the road we picked up an elderly man, 71 to be exact, who was to be our hiking guide. Jarrod was a bit skeptical of the difficulty level of the hike considering our guides age, but turns out he was a hardy old guy with a big set of lungs. Mr. Chau was a doctor during the war and has done this hike up the steep hill and down again every day for the past three years. He was a keener, eager to learn English and brought along a pad of paper and pen to spell out perfect sentences explaining the flora and fauna of the island. The hike was spectacular first trudging through pine forests being tapped for sap, then dried leaves crunching under our steps, grasslands waving in the breeze and ending at
View Of Halong Bay
We stopped at a secluded beach and climbed up one of the karst islands. a cave that tunneled right through a mountain clear to the other side.
Refueled with a seafood lunch we caught a local ferry boat 20 minutes away to a small cluster of floating homes linked to their fishing nets. Tied to the shaky boardwalks between nets were kayaks clearly worn from Mother Nature. We loaded in, after much ado to find a kayak with as little musty sea water inside as possible. We paddled slowly along, weighed down by the layer of algae growing underneath the kayak. Soon, not only were our bums wet, but our laps too because the oars lacked splash guards and water dripped down. Ahead of us was an archway beveled out of a rock wall which then lead to a lagoon completely enclosed by mountains. Close to shore there was a rock shelf two feet underwater covered with coral and black spiky sea urchins yet mysteriously no fish.
From there we paddled further to another sandy beach and held crab races. An unfortunate incident for Jarrod happened on Race Two as a crab pinched the very tip of his finger drawing blood. The pain from the crab combined with getting wet and substandard
kayaking equipment proved to be too much for Jarrod and he declared that he hated kayaking and this outing was a 0/10. I, on the other hand, had been looking forward to kayaking as the highlight of the three day trip and rated the outing a 8.5/10 as it could have been warmer weather and, admittedly, the equipment could have been better. Crab races over, we headed back to the floating houses at a steady pace arriving ahead of the rest of the group.
In the evening on Cat Ba we went in search of nightlife. Following loud music we ended up at a nightclub just before 10pm but the party was raging. At first glance the club seemed to be any ordinary dark, smoky nightclub. The decor was special: nautical theme with a unexplainable giant spider with flashing red eyes hanging from its web on the roof. Maybe it was a boat spider, relative of the large dock spiders found at Shadow Lake? As we did a walk through of the premises and approached the dance floor we found a glaring difference between Canadian clubs and the Vietnamese kind. Hands were pulsing in the air to the beat
Halong Bay
Can't Get Enough! and whoop whoops were being shouted - all by
men. White collared shirts and dress pants dominated the dance floor. Two young men faced each other mimicking hip movements, clearly dancing together. Out of the 50 people dancing, only three women conservatively did the sidestep while the men were living it up. And, no, it wasn't a gay club... it was the
only club in town!
While Jarrod sipped his beer from the sidelines, classic 90s techno blared through the speakers and I couldn't resist not joining the crowd of dancing men. Another girl on the tour and I pushed our way into the middle of the dance floor and a circle of men formed around us trying to jostle for positions near us. One song later and our novelty wore thin and two songs later dancing sober to Right Said Fred became lame so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
Heading to Shore
Our third morning we boarded onto the boat once last time and slowly cruised back to the mainland. Lying in a lounger, taking in the view it proved to be the most peaceful time out on the water. No
other boats were in sight, waves splashed on the soaring rock walls and the Vietnamese flag's yellow star flapped in the wind. I couldn't help but to ask, "Can we go again?"
Advertisement
Tot: 0.224s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 27; qc: 139; dbt: 0.1046s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb