And on to Halong Bay! {Cath}


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Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi
October 29th 2007
Published: November 5th 2007
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our trip so far

Day 2: Hanoi to Halong Bay

Seeing the Karsts from the waterSeeing the Karsts from the waterSeeing the Karsts from the water

Paddling between the massive cliffs of Halong Bay
Day 2 and off to Halong bay.
(I've put all the important things about the trip and the companies we used at the botttom of the page 😊)

Thank goodness Darrell set his alarm otherwise we would have completely over slept, the beds were so comfortable! After a quick breakfast at the hotel... free food! Yay!...we were back at the Ocean Tours office at 8am.

We met the group we'd be touring with at the office. They were all really great! Festive kind of bunch...
The 9 of us piled comfortably into the van and we were off!! HoooRAY! The 3 trip to the Harbour was largely uneventful, except for the driving, That's always an event. A regular overtaking manouver has become more like a game of chicken! But then, what's life without the odd adrenaline burst!

The scenry was pretty much th same the whole way, I remeber dozing off a few times and waking up wondering why we were still in the same place 😊 The road is good but remains a single lane for most of the way (thus the overtaking!). Rice paddies accompany the road, with men in conical hats bending to their needs. The odd farmhouse here and there turn into the long narrow frech colonial styled buildings and wide open grocery stores as you get more into the 'town' of the area. As quickly as these areas pop up, they dissove back into farmland.

We stopped half way at a crafts center, featuring mainly embroidery, jewlery, clothes and the regular tourist pick ups... and then... to the BAY!

We arrive in one piece and were told to wait while our guide found our junk! I was beginning to wonder about all those tours we'd heard about where your guide drops you off while he finds a junk to squeeze you onto! Luckily this was not the case, he really was looking for our Junk! With about 400 junks in the bay, you can see how this could take a while!

We had to climb over a junk in order to get to ours... as do most of the groups, I'd imagine!. The 9 of us had the whole junk (made for 16 tourists) to ourselves! As soon as we were untangled from the junks around us, we joined the migration out of the bay 😊

As we
Spot our junkSpot our junkSpot our junk

A whole bay full of boats waiting for their live cargo
got closer to the 2000 mist covered mounds ahead of us, the islands started to take shape. They are massive! The huge mountain/islands towered above us as we drifted inbetween them. The slight mist added to the surrealism of it all. Pretty soon we were surrounded. Standing with jaws to the floor, as we watched the islands infront of us come into view while the ones behind us disappeared. It was truely spectacular!

After a few hours of lying on the top sun deck watching the islands and then lunch, we were well away from the other junks. We drifted into one of the small fishing village we'd passed earlier. It was like a regular rural town, with homes, stores, and even a school.... only all the small buildings were floating! It looked like school had just finished and some of the moms had rowed over, in their neatly woven boats, to go and collect the kids all appearing in their little school uniforms!

We all climbed into our Kayaks and were able to row around the area. Somehow it seemed wierd to see a group of 4 or 5 6 year old kids in one of these
Humble abodeHumble abodeHumble abode

A beautiful wooden cabin, where the water gently rocks you too sleep.
boats rowing themselves around, but, I guess it's almost like walking for them!

Our guide called us over and lead us on an exceptional route amongst the islands, under overhangs and through tunnels...The water was so still and everything was so quiet! It's really difficult to explain how truely peaceful it was, just floating there, surrounded by these giant structures above you, the water all around you, and in the shallower parts, the deep red coral under you. Every now and then there were these small white fish that would leap out of the water! It was truely magnificent!

Back on the junk again we headed to the sleeping area. I think we were one of the last junks to arrive, and it was, as with everything else that day, stunning. It was like floating into a dream with all the lights from the other junks reflected on the water and sillhoetting the islands in the background.

Because of the longer Kayak we did earlier, we ran out of time to swim... but after a little pleading our quite said we could swim around the boat in the sleeping place 😊 Yay! We all took turns jumping
The crewThe crewThe crew

A few of our co-travellers getting settled in on the top deck
off the sun deck! It's amazingly high up! The water was so warm! Our guide climbed up the side of the boat (which made the rest of us in the water want to try to do it too... with only 2 actually making it!) and lowered a ladder for us. The swim was super! The small white fish we'd seen before, seemed to have followed us and started to attack Darrell! And then 2 jumped out of the water and hit me in the head!

swim over, all that was left was supper, and an evening spent drinking wine on the sun deck.

Now, was that a great day or what?!




We booked our tour through ocean tours. They were fantastic! They picked us up from the airport and we stayed in a great hotel for the first night. The bus to the harbour was spacious. The maximum number of people on the tour is 16, but even though there were only nine of us we had the whole 3-storey boat to ourselves. We have heard many complaints of companies over-filling junks with day-visitors. The service was great, our guide was fun and knowledgable, and
Hoist the mainsailHoist the mainsailHoist the mainsail

Setting off out towards the bay
we were able to leave our backpacks at the main office while we went on the tour.
The kayaking was out of this world! We did not see another junk after about 20min after leaving. They collected their own kayaks from a floating village.






Additional photos below
Photos: 21, Displayed: 21


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I'm this excitedI'm this excited
I'm this excited

Cathy taking in a deep breath of that sea air
Taking it all inTaking it all in
Taking it all in

The nice thing abou tbeing on the boat is that you just have to relax. You're just going to be going where it takes you for the next 2 days
Catching some rays Catching some rays
Catching some rays

Cath exposing her Korea-weakened skin to the tropical sun
The floating villageThe floating village
The floating village

In one of the bays, there is a complete village where people spend their entire lives. Simple and beautiful
Mobile marketMobile market
Mobile market

Get all your groceries while the shop comes past
Schools outSchools out
Schools out

Mum picking up the kids after school - in a boat!
On the way homeOn the way home
On the way home

These kids were rowing themselves home as we passed them in our canoe
Rowing towards the sunsetRowing towards the sunset
Rowing towards the sunset

Cruising off on the still waters. Our captain did well to get us far away from all the other junks
Back to the boatBack to the boat
Back to the boat

Heading back after a great few hours of paddling


8th November 2007

i need a holiday!!!
sounds amazing. what a holiday "back in 'Nam"!!!
14th November 2007

no wonder
no wonder romantic things happen in a place that beautiful :) :)

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