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Published: November 7th 2012
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On your way to school..
A very normal sight in Vietnam, everyone shares the road - no matter how big or small The time had finally come for Sadie to realise her dream of going to Ha Long Bay! We were still in culture shock and getting our bearings in Hanoi, so we ended up booking a tour through our hotel, in order to avoid all the numerous scams but mostly having to deal with trying to second guess everyone's offers and mistrusting people just out of principle. We must say we have found people to be really helpful and trustworthy in general, but having read so many horror stories we (and pretty much all other travelers we meet) were trying to work out what the reality is as far as being a Western tourist in Vietnam goes.
We met Emily, a nice and funny English girl travelling on her own, at our hotel, and we decided to book the tour together. Our guide, "Tony" (later to be replaced by "Kevin"), came to get us on a bus and away we went to Ha Long City. When we got there 4 hours later, it was clear that Sadie's dream of calm and quiet was more of an illusion, and that pretty much every other person travelling through Vietnam had had the same
the three travellers
thats how happy(?) you could look on your way out to sea... or at least a bay idea. Setting that aside and coming to grips with the sheer commercialism of it, the truth is it was very beautiful indeed. The scenery was gorgeous, the bay seemed to go on as far as they eye could see; behind every corner there was another hidden cave or tiny beach, and the limestone carsts were incredible. We went kayaking (and poor Emily, who we had convinced would be fine and had no reason to be afraid, actually fell in the water due to a faulty kayak - she was a superstar about it though) through open caves, small enclaves, and villages, walked around in a huge cave, visited Lan Chai Cua Van fishing village, a floating village and a pearl farm in Bo Hoin, and climbed up a hill near H. Hang Xich in order to get an even better view. Øyvind's (and dare I say my own) kayaking and canooeing skills came to good use, as we were able to give other people some pointers (and beat them while racing...). We were also fed ridiculous amounts of delicious (and beautifully decorated) food, and partook in cooking classes.
If all of this sounds a bit fancy to you and
Ha Long Bay 1
The entrance to a cave not very relaxed/low key, then you are right. However, as the cheaper alternatives sounded scary, and not going was not an option (and we were not yet experienced enough as independent travellers in Vietnam to know how to make our own way), then it was our best choice at the time. Sadly, we couldn't help but notice the way the constant parade of tourist boats seemd to leave not much behind except for poluted water (which we did swim in, some of us voluntarily and some of us not, hehe), and couldn't help but wonder (and indeed inquire, but to no avail) why not more of the money went back to the local communities. Indeed, kayaking through a floating village where people's yearly income is probably less than what you paid for a two-day trip gets you thinking (and even more so if you have to paddle through boat garbage)...
We had considered transfering over to Lan Ha Bay after the tour, to try and experience the nature without the crowds, however the transfer seemed to be wrought with scams and traps (boats arriving suspiciously just a few minutes after the bus in order to get you to get
a taxi and so forth...) and just when we were preparing to brave it, we realized that many tour boats were actually going to Cat Ba Island (where Lan Ha Bay is) as well. So struggling for the better part of a day to get somewhere tons of people got to by cruise boat really seemed pointless. So we decided to continue our journey south, on to Ninh Binh!
Side note: Now, a few days later and having spoken to a few more people, we heard of a nice alternative tour through Halong Bay with Ethnic Travel... next time!
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susana
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living your dreams
and what a travel log! so many pics and comments, you really take us with you. thank you sadie and øyvind...but please...postcards!