Halong Bay, 8th World Wonder?

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HALONG BAY

Let me begin by saying two things about Halong Bay:

1. It is beautiful.

2. Our trip there was completely disappointing. (Note: Mike says it was "overrated". I still say disappointing)

We booked our Halong Bay boat trip in Hanoi at the Tourist Information Centre. We decided that since we had been under budget (gasp, is that even possible!) so far in Vietnam that we would splurge on this trip and pay for a 2 night trip on a nice boat and really relax and enjoy ourselves. We were promised luxury and delicious food, kayaking, caving, swimming, among many other things and were relatively happy to pay 139$ (not including drinks) each for a 3 day, 2 night cruise around the limestone giants of Halong Bay.

We booked our cruise through Pheonix Cruises. It was a debate between them and Hanoi Backpacker's, which was 5$ cheaper, you got to sleep on the beach under the stars one night, but it was a party cruise and most of the passengers were 10 years younger than us and we weren't feeling the vibe! I think Hanoi Backpacker's would have been more fun, but we really wanted a relaxing, enjoyable cruise. For the cruise we chose, we stayed one night on the cruise ship and one night at a hotel on Cat Ba Island.

We were picked up from a location near our hotel at 8am on the morning of October 25. We got lost on our way and couldn't find the meeting spot so here we are, 4 foreigners running in circles through the streets of Hanoi looking for some bus taking people to Halong Bay. And there are PLENTY of those buses! Eventually someone at a hotel offers to check out our papers and call the company picking us up and we got on the bus for the 4 hour drive to Halong Bay.

We got dropped off at the pier where throng of people were waiting to board their boat. Our group stood around watching as bus after bus arrived, dropped off a group of people and they boarded their boat. Again. And Again. Finally, 1 hour after we arrived, our ship’s captain strolled into the lot and we eventually got to board the small boat that would take us to our ship.
On the ship, we got our room assignments and were initially pleased with our nice room until we realized that the tv, AC and hot water didn’t work. At least we weren’t to be spending much time in the rooms! Starving, we gathered for a late lunch which was ok – veggie soup, friend pork, calamari, steamed prawns, tuna, rice and oranges.

We head to the top of the ship now to watch as the ship cruises into the bay, among all the giant limestone mountains. Unfortunately it was a cool, hazy day which took some away from the beauty of the bay, but it was still stunning nonetheless.

We anchor down and hop back on our small boat which delivers us to the Surprising Cave, which is a huge, impressive cave that we got to tour. There were lots of shapes in the rocks that you could see with a great imagination – lions, frogs, elephants and a “man’s canon” that was surprisingly recognizable!!

Next we got to kayak around the bay which would have been super cool except that we were running late because of our captain’s tardiness and it was about to get dark so our time in the kayaks was cut in half. Still, we got to paddle around, checking out a tiny floating village where they grow fish in nets under their house! As our ship was cruising around, there were many small boats approaching all the cruise ships trying to sell beer, snacks and other drinks to the passengers at a lower price than sold on the boat. This was strictly prohibited on the boat, but off the boat, it was fair game, so we enjoyed some brews while kayaking around the bay!

Back on the ship, we were treated to a sunset party complete with 2 pieces of fruit and a glass of wine. The only thing missing was the actual sunset, since it was too cloudy! We found out at that point, that we would not be allowed to swim from the boat because the captain said the spot we were supposed to anchor was too rough. Instead we stayed where we were which was too close to the floating villages where the people “answer the call of nature” into the water and swimming was, therefore, unsafe. Disappointing again, but no way was I going to swim in that water!!!

Dinner was again an ok array of food, but not up to the level we were expecting. We feasted on prawns presented nicely in a glass, deep fried tofu, pepper beef, clams, stuffed crab, chicken and asian pear. We were advised by some fellow travellers to bring our own booze onto the ship since the drink price was so steep. Of course, this is not officially allowed, so we kept it in our rooms and spiked our 7ups secretly.

Since we couldn’t swim, we spend the night playing cards and enjoying the cool weather out on the bay. Overall, day 1 finished below our expectations but we were hopeful that tomorrow would be better!

Breakfast was supposed to be served at 7:30 the next morning but when we entered the dining room at 7:20, the eggs and bacon were already sitting on the table, cold as could be. We spend much of the morning cruising around or waiting for other boats to meet us and swap passengers. It was late morning by the time we arrived at Monkey Island where we swam, hiked and watched monkeys play around (much to Kyle’s dislike – he’s afraid of them!). At the top of the island peak we had an amazing view over the bay!

Later we were dropped off at Cat Ba Island where we would fend for ourselves for the afternoon and stay in a hotel there that night. Lunch at the hotel was better than the food on the ship.

We joined up with another couple from Australia, Rhett and Jazmine, rented motorbikes and the 6 of us took to the open road. As first time riders, we got to show the 4 others the ropes of riding on the bikes! We take off towards the National Park but the road to the park is closed for construction so we take a coastal drive halfway around the island, taking a small detour through some mountains – what a beautiful drive!!! Along the way we see a cave, so we stop there and explore a small but dark and mysterious cave.

Back in Cat Ba town, we settle in at a local Bai Hoi road-side bar where, in the course of 4 hours we manage to drink 40 glasses of beer, eat a pho dinner and still only spend $5 per couple for it all! Back at the hotel we make our own fun with rice vodka (not recommended), Beijing Duck flavoured chips and dice! All in all, we had the best time of this whole cruise during the part where we had to fend for ourselves!!

6:30 was an early and unwelcomed wake-up the next day before we were to get breakfast then catch the bus back to our ship. Of course, the bus was 45 minutes late, which made no one happy so early in the morning! Basically the rest of this day was spent cruising back towards our end point with one final lunch before we left. Back on solid land, we had a 4hr bus ride back to Hanoi where we enjoy our last Vietnamese meal with all our favourites – spring rolls, noodles, beef and veggies.

We spend the rest of our last night in Vietnam doing some last minute shopping, buying the very useful silk sleeping bags and some Vietnamese hats that Mike has big plans of making lamps out of…if the delicate hats make it home in one piece!

The next morning we would board a plan to Bangkok, Thailand and we were sad to leave Vietnam, which we had loved so much! We were, however, excited for the sights and food of Thailand, and would not be disappointed!

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