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Published: October 2nd 2008
I got back to Hanoi from Sapa about 5.30am but in a few hours I would already be on the bus to the world heritage sight of Halong Bay... one of the locations used for the James Bond film 'Tomorrow Never Dies.' Luckily there was an English couple and an American girl all my age, so we made a good social four-some. The trip didn't get off to a good start though... it unfortunately started to rain, and with my English mentality I thought the whole day would be a washout! But luckily we were in Vietnam, not England, and the skies soon cleared to let the sun blaze. In just a couple of hours we were off the mini bus and onto the boat, our home for the night. My initial thoughts were that of our boat drifting through the limestone rocks of the bay in the peace and tranquility suggested by photos... while maybe seeing a couple of fishermen along the way. It was not. The whole bay was swarming with boat like ours, it was packed with tourists and was a total contrast to the preconceptions we all had. Although this wasn't what we had in mind, the
sheer beauty of the landscape was incredible... and we had only seen a small portion of it. We then docked to look round the cleverly named 'Amazing Cave', and unfortunately this was not as amazing as the name suggested. My personal idea of a cave is for it to have rugged terrain which is enclosed by dark conditions that require you to have a torch... but it resembled an entrance to a ride you would see in Disney Land, and it almost looked like it was made from fiber glass due to the orange street lighting provided for visibility (the man-made path and steps were a little of putting as well). Glad to be out of there and wanting a bit of freedom we were taken across to a deck to do a little kayaking. I do enjoy a bit physical exercise and even though it would have been nice to do this with just nature around, I was still happy to be at see and go where ever I wanted to go (It was also fun to dodge the big boats). But then we got told to go round a couple of corners and under a small opening to
a little secluded spot surrounded by limestone... this felt a little more like it, and we decided (me and the American girl (Laura) who I was sharing the kayak with) that we were just going to sit their and relax in the picturesque surroundings. Then we slowly made our way back to the boat... and being me I waited to everyone else had gone then made myself get the gold by paddling as hard as a could while Laura rested. One more gold for England... I needed a good workout!! We then anchored in the middle of the bay with about 50 other boats... I had got used to the touristy feel by now... and went swimming in the bay. Three of us jumped from the very top of the boat straight into the warm salty jellyfish infested water... luckily there wasn't many around and someone was on hand to spot them. This was finished of by a few beers on top deck while we watched the sun disappear behind the limestone mountains to be instantly replaced by a sea of stars. As we were away from land and the crazy cities I assumed we would not be bothered by
the voices of the Vietnamese women asking us to buy from them... I was clearly wrong! they had a market at sea so they would fill a boat up with all sorts of snacks and drinks, beers in ice coolers etc, and row around the bay from boat to boat selling their product... crazy! I did however buy a few beers from them as they were cheaper than on the boat. I think we were star gazing for about five hours... observing the different constellations to the usual ones of our skies back home while downstairs and Vietnamese family was singing pretty bad karaoke... lovely!
The second day started off like I thought the first would... after we had breakfast we set off in another direction and this time there wasn't another tourist boat in sight, only a few local people. I sat at the top enjoying the hot sun and scenery... now this was why I had come here!! After a small while we docked at Cat Ba island... I would be separated from the three people who got to know and join the Vietnamese family on board for an extra adventure (I was doing a three day
tour and the others only two). our first stop was Cat Ba National Park. I was told we were going to be going on a small trek but wasn't really given any additional information... so I wore flip flops... which turned out to be a bad move! We departed up the initial steps which was a workout on its own. There was me the tour guide and the men of the Vietnamese family... three of them. I soon found out that this was not going to be as easy as I though, we soon took some paths which were getting muddier by the second... and yes my flip flops cam off a few times, and were sometimes followed by my sunglasses. We switched from the mud to the rocky and at times almost vertical trail up to the peak... I did enjoy this a lot but I took my time as I didn't have the proper footwear for a easy climb. I finally made it to the top and I was dripping wet, I really don't think I have sweated this much before in my life... and I was also bitten to pieces my mosquitoes. Climbing the 225 meter mountain
was fine... it was when I saw the 30 meter watch tower that I thought... that looks pretty scary! But I climbed to the top of course... and actually I was the only one who did (apart from my guide). That’s another gold for England!! I took this extra slow though... it was rusty and at the top some of the planks of wood were loose. I think I've seen sloth’s move quicker. Then it was the descent, which wasn't too bad... but the good thing was the well at the bottom, buckets of cold water were like buckets of gold to me... so beautifully refreshing. We then drove to Cat Ba town and along the promenade to our hotel... as we were driving however I saw this hotel and thought about how much I would like to stay there as we passed it... to my surprise we turned around and drove straight to that hotel. Wow! I later checked the internet to find out that this place cost $55 a night... a lot compared to my $10 places; I can't even imagine how much this place would cost in a western country. The best thing about this hotel though
was the food... I haven't still had a meal as good as this. I sat with the Vietnamese family which was probably a big help as they can ask directly for items such as fresh chillis (they don't tend to cook with chillis much here but have them on the side). As we talked I found out that one of the men lives and works in New York and the girl lives and goes to uni right by the King of Prussia Mall... 5 minutes from my family... small world! So I we had lunch, dinner and a buffet breakfast... I really enjoyed this food!! After lunch we then took a short trip to a place called Monkey island. This was not just a clever name... oh on... they were actually quite a lot of monkeys there (and a man actually got bitten by one... I think he was getting to close with his camera... stupid man!). We had to walk through a floating market to get to the boat to get there... and here I saw just how fresh the produce was... the had their fish swimming out back in square sections closed off by nets... awesome. We passed
floating markets on out way there, weaved in and out of the limestone rocks sticking out of the water that I had come accustomed to viewing... then as we turned a corned we saw a small rock with a tiny bit of sand in the corner... secluded and beautiful. As soon as my foot touched the sand... I felt worry free. I laid on the beach and just chilled out... there were probably 2-3 other boats there... but not more than 20 people all together on this private island beach. I done the usual... swam, took photos and just enjoyed the peace. The water though was once again warm and salty... not as refreshing as I had wished. I would have been nice if I was enjoying this with the three other westerners I met the day before... but I still had a damn good time! The next day was just the journey back... and back onto the boat to join the other two day tour people... which was good because I met a couple of people who I keep on bumping into as I head south... but that’s another story.
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Grannie
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backpacking for grannies
It all makes me want to pack up and travel! Everyone here says hi and all at prezzo missing you and jealous of your fun time. Keep writing as it great to hear all about your trips. Great photos too.