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Published: February 15th 2012
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The Millars arrived on Sunday night, so we are now 14. We left Hanoi on Monday morning and headed to Halong Bay. Lots of traffic with scooters carrying everything from babies to water buffalo!! Had a chance to see lots of rice fields and lovely green crops...often being ploughed by the water buffalo and hand watered with 2 large watering cans carried on poles on their shoulders. We stopped at a craft shop where disabled people work. Lots of ceramics, embroidered pictures, laquer, silk clothing, and a coffee shop. Had some Vietnamese coffee...very strong, with condensed milk. Arrived in Halong and boarded the tender to get to our junk boat - Bhaya Classic. As we boarded, the staff dropped rose petals down on us, and greeted us with warm towels and a delicious welcome drink. After lunch we checked into our cabins....quite compact but with all the essentials. The view is absolutely breathtaking....and it is so calm and peaceful. A bit cool, with a light mist. We visited a quaint local fishing village by bamboo row boat. So interesting to see how the people live on the water.....their houses floating side by side, with clothes hanging neatly on lines outside, dogs and cats, pens for fish, large blue barrels with their fresh water, and usually an antenna for their tv, powered by a generator. We stopped at the local floating school, where young children were ending their day by playing with a long piece of elastic....and high jumping. We visited their classroom where one young girl was still diligently working, her writing very precise and neat. The teacher resides at the school, and to get a job in the city, they must work on the floating school for 2 years. She has a small room with bed and cooking supplies in the corner. Toilet is a hole in the wooden floor that drops into the water, with a toilet bowl that is place over the hole! We also visited an oyster farm and watched a girl preparing the oysters to make cultured pearls. We returned to the boat and some of the guys had a refreshing swim in the South China sea....much to the amazement of the staff, who consider this winter. There was a brief cooking class and language lesson, and then we enjoyed happy hour and hanging out on the upper deck, followed by a delicious dinner. Some of us did some squid jigging with the staff. Brandts and Walshes had the "luxury cabins" at the front of the boat, so we gathered on their large deck for a nightcap..or two.
On Tuesday, after a "light breakfast", we boarded the ferry to head to the Surprise Cave. A long climb up to an amazing site....caves with many different natural rock formations. Some spectacular views of the bay from high up. We saw more of the boats selling groceries and produce, paddling from boat to boat. We returned to our boat to be greeted yet again with warm towels and hot tea, followed by a hot brunch. We cruised back to the harbour....hated to leave the peace and serenity behind.
We boarded our bus and drove back to Hanoi, stopping along the way at a cemetery. Our guide had explained the North Vietnamese tradition of burying the dead in a temporary grave. The coffin is dug up in the night, exactly three years from when the person died, and the bones are taken out of the coffin and cleaned with rice wine. They are then put in order, in a smaller permanent coffin, and buried again, with an elaborate marker, in the family plot. The corpse wears gloves and socks so that they do not miss any of the smaller bones, which would be very bad luck. The grave faces a certain way, depending on when the person was born. They believe that the person will not be reincarnated if they do not follow this tradition.
We said good bye to our wonderful guide, Huong, who taught us so much about the Vietnamese culture, and shared so many personal stories. Boarded our flight in Hanoi and took a 2 hour flight to our next stop.....Saigon, officially called Ho Chi Minh City.
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colleen Molnar
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Amazing Job
Hello Jayne.... This is amazing to be able to experience your trip like this..... Thanks for doing the work and for sharing. I will be going along for the ride.