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Published: November 20th 2012
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So of course when you travel you learn a lot. But on our 3 day 2 night junk tour of Halong Bay I learned quite a bit:
1. Squid fishing is impossible.
2. Americans are backwards in a few things: I can now convert meters to feet much better, I am can figure out Celcius temps when people talk about them, and I have learned to eat with my fork prongs down.
3. The chance of meeting someone from Malta is slim to none. We met a couple from Malta.
4. Halong Bay was formed by dragons.
5. Our travel agent is for real! When we booked this tour I did a lot of research to figure out the best way to book and read a lot of reviews of this travel agent. So I emailed him, he responded back quick, and we booked. The night before the tour, when we had not heard from him to confirm our pickup, I began to get nervous. The next morning when we still didnt hear anything I worried more. Was this guy real? Why did I pay it all up front? Did he create fake tripadvisor account to
rate him so high? Then, as we were eating breakfast, the hotel got a phone call for me. It was Darian. He was calling to inform us our boat had some damage from the recent typhoon but he would be setting us up on a nice boat (one we later found out cost $200 more). So off we went to Halong Bay on the Bhaya Cruises "Classic 4" junkboat.
Halong Bay is a UNESCO world heritage site and contains about 3000 limestone islands said to be formed from dragons to ward of attackers. There is only one island that actually has people on it. It has been threatened to be taken off as a world heritage site but they are getting their act together by recycling and minimizing trash into the bay. There are many very small fishing villages throughout the bay as well. Most of the time it is a bit overcast and maybe misty but we were lucky to have two very sunny day.
As Nick and I boarded the boat, we soon realized this was a very nice boat and we didn't bring our nice clothes. We showed up in our shorts and ratty tank
tops, while others were in dresses and long pants. We were served lunch as we sailed through the bay. The boat itself was amazing. Four decks, two with rooms and a spa, one with a restaurant and bar and observation deck, and on top a huge sun deck with deck chairs. Only about 30 people overall were on the boat.
We spent the mornings doing Tai Chi, eating breakfast among the amazing scenery, and reading on the deck. We spent the rest of the time looking as touristy as possible. A lot of the activities required us to more or less be shuttled like cattle to some attraction while the other 500 people visiting joined you. It was nice to see the fishing village but I believe we go there so the locals can laugh at the 30 people in bright orange life vests crammed into a boat floating by.
If you do the 3 day tour, you get one of the days where the "2 day cruisers" leave early and you are left with a smaller group. With only 12-14 "3 day cruisers" left in the group, you take an excursion where you board a smaller boat
to do some cycling on an island and kayaking though a cave. This day we got to know everyone really well - 3 couples from Austraila, 1 from the UK, and our friends from Malta. Eveyone ranged in ages and was from all different walks of life. My favorite part was learning all about how a "typical day" goes for someone living in Malta, or what the Australians think of our president, or that Egypt is a place I must go!
Perhaps the best part of the day was our nightly squid fishing venture. This mostly involved holding a bamboo fishing pole with a hook attached to a string, moving it around slowly, drinking a beer, and joking about how many squid we were able to catch. For the record we caught a rope (twice), a mushroom, and a leaf. But the conversation and laughs were what made it great. I dont think you can catch squid with a bamboo fishing pole.
We are back in Hanoi and off to meet our friends (all 10 of us) for dinner and a show! And by "show" I mean "water puppets" and maybe some Bun Cha for dinner!
video links
our cruise boat accomodations:
dianamom
non-member comment
looking at your pictures
Okay....now I am jealous!! Looks so fun,..I want to see pictures of your room on the boat!