Advertisement
Published: November 21st 2008
14.11.08
Km travelled 17252
The start of the day hasn't been very fortunate. But you can't always tell the day from its start.
We woke up very early to have some breakfast and make to sure to be ready to leave by 8.00. The breakfast room was very busy and we had to wait to be served.
Obviously we wouldn't have rushed if we knew that then we would have had to wait more than half an hour for the bus to come and pick us up. I was already getting quite nervous, as we knew that to get to Ha Long it was going to take us at least three and half hours. When we found ourselves on the edge of desperation the guy that had to pick us up stepped into the hotel.
We got on this bus already jammed with people and bags, and finally left. The whole point that it made everything go wrong from the beginning, was that all the people there were on a tour with an agency and we were someone they gave a lift to. So nothing like “a bus service that is going to pick you up at the hotel
and drop you off in front of the boat”. Because clearly the most interesting part was the drop off. Forget that we stopped twice on the way so that people could take a rest at one of the souvenir warehouses spread like mushrooms around every corner of Asia.
We thought it would have been wise to give this pretended tour guide the number of the boat supervisor, in order to get to the right place/boat. What we learned after the telephone call was that someone was going to come and pick us up at the bus station.
But only when we're finally at the station, at 12.15, only 15 minutes before the end of our check-in time on the boat, it comes out that this station is miles away from where our boat is and no one can help us. Oh my nerves! Oh if I losing them! The same pretended guide wrote for us on a piece of paper the place we needed to reach to give it to a taxi driver.
Fortunately, even without speaking English, the taxi driver was good enough to understand when I said that our pier was in front of Ha Long Bay Hotel.
I also showed him the same telephone number which he rang and in seconds we were at the gate.
Our embarrassment was immense, we were terribly late. While we apologized hundreds of times, we've been put on a small boat to reach our junk anchored away from the pier.
We set foot on the Ginger Ha Long ten minutes before lunch was going to be served, just enough to have a drink while the supervisor gave us a brief description of the cruise, leave our bags in the cabin, and sit at the table. But I would like to say first that this has been definitely the most luxurious experience not only of our trip, but probably of our lives. And seen that we spent for that as much as we could spend in a month travelling, we expected it. We sat at a table for two beside the window. The junk is gorgeous and the dining room is very beautiful. Everything is perfect, the chairs, table clothes, table sets, the organza curtains. And the food and the service are exceptional. It's immediately clear to us that we are by far the youngest guests on the boat. Too expensive for
a young couple. There's a nice English couple, an American one, other two couples I think German, and a group of eight Flemish. Average age 55. apart from the English and the American, the others are all wearing nice clothes and looking quite upper class. After lunch we all move up to the sun deck. The view of the bay is amazing. I have to thank Roberta for advising me to come here and have a cruise in Ha Long Bay. It is by far the most amazing thing we've done in this trip. We soon arrive close to Dao Titop, a beach where we can get off for a swim and a walk up the island for a stunning view of the bay. We can't wait! Surprisingly (or not) most of the people can't be bothered to get off the boat, so it ended up being only five of us. Who cares! We feel like kids again. We simply can't resist it so as soon as we dock, we run to the beach and jump in the water. Oh how long has it been since I last had a swim in the sea!!!
It's so great. The water is
warm enough and anyway the air is hot. We spend most of the time enjoying the water and then we climb to the top of the island. Back to the junk, extremely satisfied, we can finally enjoy the wonders of our deluxe room, starting from the marble shower with a huge sunflower like shower head. Then the luxurious dressing gowns.
A lot more beautiful, with clean clothes and relaxed, we head to the sun deck just to enjoy ourselves while the junk sails. After a couple of hours is time for the next trip. This time no one is missing. On board of the small boat we visit the floating fishing village. Nothing compared to the amazing floating villages I visited on the Lake Titicaca, but it still makes me wonder how can people live on the water. It was a bit sad to see that they keep dogs there for security, but they have no space where to walk. By the time we're back on the junk it's getting dark. We sit at a table outside on the deck to sip a drink while reading and writing. Everyone got changed to the evening suit. In the Flemish group all
the men have a salmon jersey on their shoulders (not our choice of clothing but each to your own).
We enjoy the soft breeze of the early evening and when time comes we all walk down to the dining room for our luxurious dinner.
Elegance is queen for the evening meal, from the table, to the room, to the people. The seven course meal is delicious as usual, while Mike drinks his Tiger I sip my Soave. Everything is so beautiful. We're so happy to be here. I wish everyone we love could enjoy it as well.
The night put a bright round moon out and keeps us warm.
It's time to abandon ourselves to the comforts of our room and have a lovely night on board.
15.11.08
It's an early beautiful morning. At 6.30 no one is around yet but coffee is ready and we can sit down for a light breakfast. Slowly a few appear and we move to the sun deck. At 7.00 we're supposed to have Tai Chi class, but it's only me and Mike to attend, plus the English man and the captain. All the oldies are still in bed dreaming. It was
very beautiful and relaxing, and I'm really curious to learn more. Plus the atmosphere was amazing, with the sun rising and the junk sailing through the rocks.
When everyone was finally up and running, we went for our last trip, to the Hang Dau Go, the cave of wooden stakes. It is a huge cave with three main chambers carved in limestone. Stalagmites and stalactites create amazing shapes and a wonderful landscape, everything created by the water draining through the limestone. It was very beautiful to visit. Back on the boat a rich brunch was waiting for us. We just got the time to pack our stuff so it could be ready for us at the pier. The brunch was great and after the joy of food we all sat up on the sun deck to enjoy the time left on board. It's also time to pay the bill so I head downstairs to attend to my duty and take the chance to ask our supervisor advice on how to get to Ninh Binh, our next destination.
Before getting off we meet all together in the dining room to say thank you and goodbye and receive a small souvenir from
the cruise.
When we set foot on the ground, we collect our luggage waiting for us and a crew member helps us get on our way. Outside the gate we're assaulted by a number of people that wanted to take us on their motorbikes (with two large backpacks, two small backpacks and two bags). But we would really prefer a taxi, so the guy rings for one and in a couple of minutes is here. He explains to the driver where to take us and which bus we have to take from the station.
We thank him and say goodbye. The car is soon on its way.
When we reach the gate of the bus station, a bus to Ninh Binh is leaving. Our driver honks and the bus waits for us. Two guys help us with the bags, we pay the taxi and jump on.
We're glad the bus is almost empty, out of 24 seats probably half are taken. I wish we never thought anything like that! At some point along the way there were almost 60 people on, with the guy selling the tickets that had to sit outside the window. The only good thing was that
we couldn't see any more the front window so we ignored the number of times our bus was only few meters apart from vehicles coming the other way while overtaking.
At first is incredibly scary but then you don't pay much attention to it any more. At 13.00 the bus stops for lunch, everyone got off to have something to eat. We sat on the bus waiting. In half an hour we got back on our way. People kept on getting on and no one getting off. Everyone had to carry some bag on their lap, but that's all common. When the first came to get off, they all had to jump from the window, as it was a dream to reach the door. We've been lucky, first to survive, and then because everyone got off at Ninh Binh so we didn't have to show our acrobatic skills to anyone.
It was already late afternoon. We walked to the guesthouse where we booked a room the day before and got to our room. Before even starting to relax and have a shower, we wanted to have everything sorted for the day after. Down at the reception we booked the sleeping
bus to Hué and two drivers with motorbikes to take us around all day. That's all we needed.
It was time to get clean, relax, and enjoy a meal in the courtyard packed with German people.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.182s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.1467s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jim and Beth
non-member comment
Very Posh
Very Posh boat. Beth and I have just been at here dance lesson, and we're now looking through your photos. Both impressed no end! Beth wants to know why you have fluff on your face Mike and if Virginia can be her friend when you get to NZ. Cheers for the email update, there is a lot to be said for the joys, sorrows and challenges of travel. Take care you two. Jim and Beth