Floating in the air floating in the sea

.....Take My Hand & Come With Me.

I knew the minute I opened the tour bus from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay that we were in for a great time. The energy from the other travellers radiated, even though some had just got off the night train from Sapa and were whacked out from trekking. Stu had to have a couple of days rest between these two trips as he got very sick, which meant I got to play Florence Nightingale for a while. Ha Long means descending dragon, which came about many many moons ago when the Chinese fought the Vietnamese and the Gods sent the Vietnamese a family of dragons other wise known as Lac the Dragon Lord and Au Co a mountain fairy. They huffed and puffed the Chinese away from these territories by breath of furious fire then pelted them with jade and pearls, this great event was apparently witnessed in 1892 by a single Frenchman captain who by chance was sailing these waters at the time. There are 1969 karst Islets in the bay which stand strong but alone, James Bond's Tomorrow Never Dies was filmed here, some of these Islets have names such as 'the teapot and two cups rock', 'fighting cock rock' 'frogging rock' and the 'kissing rock' which is appropriate as our tour guide first introduced us to the bay as 'the most romantic bay in the world'. I must agree it was just this.



The heat was bubbling hot and not blistering hot, which was very bad news for my Sapa trekking moto leg burn, instead of starting to scab over it wept buckets and peeled chunks, this will be one massive scar when it finally heals. We boarded a small boat, along with 250 litre barrels of diesel which we were told would keep us in electricity, karaoke and freezing cold air for one whole night. We then transferred to a small ship, these wooden sailing ships are called Junks that support huge sails and decorative flagged masts, the mini red flags are meant to bring good luck to those on board. Our Junk was called 'The Phoenix' and was to be our home for (option 3) of three whole days and two whole nights (equalling 500 litres of diesel consumption!) In the dining deck I sat back against the comfy silk cushions, rocking in time with the teak, breathing in calmness as I sipped iced drinks, kicked back and read my book 'Life of Pi' which no one told me was about a boat that sinks!



The curious others on board were looking around, nodding happily to each other, we were all thankful we didn't take the $46 option. The whole Junk deal cost us $140 including transfers, three massive yummy meals a day, karaoke & kayaking, private cabins that were so cosy and romantic with bathrooms that were clean, functional, pure perfection for lovers, honeymooners even same sex backpacking buddies looked at each other in that humbling way while inspecting the Junk, imagining themselves as either Jack Sparrow or Jack and Rose, humming that annoying tune 'Near, far, wherever you are...umm mm mmmmmmm mmmmm.....Once more you open the door'......or maybe I was the only one who did this!



The afternoon brought us to Thein Cung Grotto, inside this cave brought body temperatures down to a more regular heat, the stalagmites and stalactites were lit up with coloured halogen lights giving that Planet Clangers feel, a Korean family pretended to be The Munster Family in front of the spot light of an alcove, a old French man slipped over the damp smooth rocks, luckily he sustained no serious injuries but caused much personal fuss, the parents of a young Swiss family of six kids had archaeological, geological, biological, anthropological, ecological, mythological discussions between each other, I was mighty impressed and ear wigged as best I could. Ha Long bay has a 20 million year tectonic limestone history....but it was also the deepest sea in the world some 500 million years ago to the shallowest sea in the world some 5 minutes ago, but they all agreed it was the eighth wonder of this world, the Swiss certainly know a lot of stuff. It was not long before the boat ladies rowed up beside our Junk with a complete corner shop of wares to offer, bottles of cheap wine, beers, vodka, fags of every brand, sweets, chewy, cakes you name it...all tagged with that well versed phrase 'YOU BUY FROM Meeeeeeee?' But what you may not know is they tell the ships staff who bought what and the ship then adds a sur-charge to your final bar bill, $5 for wine, vodka, $1 for soft drinks which is really cheeky as this money goes to Mr. Fat Cat back in his mansion in the Bahamas .



As the blazing sun set, our new friends jumped from the top level of the Junk in to deep jellyfish infested green seas. I opted to take jumping pictures, pointing to my moto burn that continued to Ooz yellow puss. Many old Junks docked near by, anchors had settled in to the bay's deep sandy bed for the night, white rice wine and fresh fruit were served on silver trays, many jelly fish stings soon emerged and shown off, much laughter could be heard for miles around along with row, row splash....'You promised you buy from me....buy cheap cheap....Oreos, wine, Choco pies' which are yummy & just like mini wagon wheels. I put my new special made best dress on and dinner was served in the dining deck at 7.30, we got to know our fellow ship mates fast, Andrew was from UK whose voice made it through about one hundred songs and whose paleness was the new sun tan, Ryan is his mate from UK but he now lives a great life in Australia, Kath & Isobel two fine and funny sisters from Oz, Bryan the American who has filled up one passport (with impressive extra pages) in just one year, and Long our karaoke King tour guide. Plates full of Vietnamese food kept appearing, these plates of deliciousness disappeared fast washed down with Test Tube Baby cocktails ( tequila, kahlua and some lactose kind of milk of human kindness possibly from far off mountain tribes which I actually thought lined my stomach well) along side we drank lethal mix of Montes Merlot 2005.



The 250 litres of diesel certainly fuelled the karaoke machine as the music flowed as freely as the wine and the chilled Air con air, classic Billy Joel 'Piano Man' was sung by mighty men, then wonder wall, the boxer, the gambler, YMCA, daddy cool, American pie, money money money, Zombie by anyone who was game for a laugh. Our guide kept reminding us what a romantic night we were having and it was, as I was In love with everyone, I stumbled outside for some air, as my voice box was near to bursting its old pharyngitis ulcers. The air was humid and the lights from all the Junks twinkled and bounced off the water linking together across the bay like a string of Christmas lights, the loud echoes of an enviable Acapella version of Bohemian Rhapsody could be heard rolling around the bay from four Junks away, this place is the original Bay City of Rock & Rollers, reminding my karaoke brain of classic 70's tunes like The way I feel tonight to Don't stop the music as I only want to be with you Ha Long Bay as You made me believe in magic, Oh what a romantic and fun night, none of us will ever forget it.



We certainly didn't forget it the next morning, zombie's a go go...as I opened my cabin door to a wonderful sunrise and a splitting head, a corner shop terrorist was already floating her convenience shop boat next to the Junk and chanting...'Lady you buy frooom meeeee nooooow....choco pies?' God damn them, but god love 'em too. Breakfast was called at 7.30 luckily the bay is calm and not choppy or not much eating and much more vomiting may have occurred, after breakfast was followed by a small trip on a smaller boat that took us around the bay to embark on a head splitting time in a two man Kayak that we rowed mainly upstream while managing a serious hangover. Earlier we lost some people for this days activities as these trips are broken down in to three category's

1. Two days & one night is popular, but you really do not get the full experience.
2. Three days with one night on boat & one night in Hotel in Cat Ba Island, we heard mixed reports about this one or
3. Three days and two nights on the boat, which I now know is the best option, especially if you have lived in Hotels for one year and would love a change.

Bryan was meant to go back to Hanoi later that day, he had paid for the one night two days option, he wanted to stay with us and Oz sisters and continue the fun, so he flipped a coin, heads he stayed, tails he went back, heads it was, just like that! Kayaking is the tourist past time of choice around here, with many interesting caves and great rocks to paddle around. But during the early morning the tides are low, barnacles and clam shells were ridged like pebble dashed council houses and when the tide was low in the early mornings the kayaking boats have a habit of running a ground, how ever much or little both paddlers inside the boat weigh. Inside this one strange lagoon area a single syringe floated past us in the frothing fizzing waters, Stu and I were wedged to the ground. Long our guide braved the ankle deep infested waters and dragged our kayak back up stream to knee deep safety, he cut his foot on sharp shells while saving our lives. But then we had to go even further back up stream as the tide was coming in through a fierce cave tunnel, Stu and I lost it many times, so near to the other side where the rapids mouth spurted out more torrent, but then we were swept back to where we first started, between us we managed to work out a one person paddle and one person steering in the right direction system which got us through the tricky rapid waters, needless to say my bingo wings got a mighty work out that morning.



Lunch on the little boat was delightful, gentle classical music played and hand prepared cuisines were made from scratch by the captain and his two sons. After lunch us five zombies on board found a space to curl up and have a snooze, I was resting at the bow end which slanted a lot, as I drifted off to sleep, through heavy eyes I could see the sea gently lapping around me between four giant islets ahead, peaceful and calm. I could hear an assortment of Christmas carols being played even though it was only early May, I soon snoozed off to the tinkle karaoke based sounds of Silent Night. I awoke one hour later when dribble had seeped into my right ear giving me partial loss of hearing. We moved off to another cave, then the captain showed us his impressive pearl collection. They farm oyster shells and fine pearls here, the ancient myths of pearl and jade spitting dragons are said to have left the pearl seed for them to harvest and make some cash from. To tell if a pearl is real you set light to it with a lighter, it wont go black or melt. These pearls were perfection, set on various designs of necklace, bracelet or earring, they are not the usual tat you find all over this country, they were very different not same same.



The karaoke continued with us die hard folk from the night before, a new crowd had boarded and the mood had changed, instead of lush wines being consumed at a competitive rate, shandies were sipped and savoured. A honeymooning Vietnamese couple took the mic and shared a perfect Vietnamese love song that they sung to each other, this my dear reader had my Stu in tears, which melted my heart and the Ozzie sisters hearts which then had us all in tears. The next day was lovely a gentle cruise up the bay back to the harbour, another lovely lunch then the bus back to Hanoi, at one point the bus nearly crashed, actually on several occasions this nearly happened but then we stopped dead in a massive traffic jam. A serious accident had occurred....puff.... and this information had come by smoke signals....puff.... a lorry had gone over the bridge...puff...emergency services had not yet reached the injured......puff puff..... which got me in a blue light tiz...puff....puff..... they would not let me off the bus. I was becoming an irritable back seat London driver to the mellow Kinh front seat driver, If I could only render some aid, our driver could not see that the lorry in front was just changing his tyre and a massive space had opened up in front of him, we moved forwards but only after our driver had thoroughly cleaned his dash board including all air con vents and mirrors with the corner of his shirt cuff. The traffic were horns a plenty, we inched forward, someone in the back seats made out they were about to give birth...ha bloody ha! But they did have flights to catch. It turned out there were no accident and it was just normal Sunday to Saturday build up of rush hour Friday all day long traffic, they were having uson.



I would recommend this trip to anyone, we really saved the best till last in Vietnam. They say you have not really done Vietnam until you have visited Ha long Bay and this I must now confirm is true, but don't skimp on the cost, you certainly get what you pay for.

Our time in Hanoi was helped by this bunch of people

GIA THINH HOTEL
19 Hang Bac St., Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (+84.4) 9263625 - Fax: (+84.4) 9263628
Email: giathinh@hanoisunshinehotel.com
Website: http://www.hanoisunshinehotel.com


They managed to sort out all our trips, extend our visas as we just cant do these countries properly in only 30 days and the hotel it self is a well oiled machine that's only one year old. But it has felt like home to us for three weeks now. Big thanks to them all.

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