Sqid Fishing with a Bamboo Line and a Neon Light in Halong Bay

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We rose early, cameras in hand to catch the sun rise over the limestone islands... There was no sun.

A rushed dinner and a very appreciative chef (see Stalactites & Stalagmites... but we were the main attraction to learn why) saw us running late for our sleeper bus to Ha Noi. Backpacks, satchel, laptop and camera bag in tow we rushed down the quiet Dong Hoi street in the general direction of the bus stop. Pacing and only one block into our walk the hotel manager pulled up beside us on her motorbike and said “jump on” pointing to the both of us. We both looked at eachother and cracked a smirk as we imagined the site of us both squeezed onto the back of her tiny bike. We are not so accustomed to a Sunday drive with a family of four on the back of a motorbike, so Mark declined and sent me ahead. Mark, puffing met me at the bus stop with time to spare.

The neon lit bus pulled into the bus stop and we presented our tickets specifically stating “No backseat please”. These three words were of little significance to the assistant as he stood abruptly pointing to the back seat. “No, no, no. Our seat numbers are 5 & 6, these are not backseat numbers.”A stare-off between Mark & the assistant saw no backing down from the other party so we shuffled down the aisle and went where we were told to go. This turned out for the best in the end as we had the whole back 5 seats to ourselves for the 13 ½ hour bus ride. Well.....Mark 4 seats, and myself 1.

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The time came for us to choose our tour for Halong Bay. To party boat, or not to party boat. That was our question. After scouring a couple of websites and evaluating reviews, it seemed that the boat tour through our hotel was going to be as good as any.

We tossed up for a couple of hours whether the cruise was about partying, or seeing the beauty that is Halong Bay. We booked, and the following day we boarded our mini bus for our easy 3 hour drive East of Ha Noi to Halong Bay. Upon boarding the bus we were greeted by an Indonesian couple, a German couple, two Chinese girls, an English lady and two Australian couples in their 60’s who happened to be from my once hometown in Grafton. This was no party boat.

Through our travels so far it has become apparent to us that no S/E Asian tour is complete without the almost ritual stop at a gemstone store. This stop came about half way in to our 3 hour journey, so was a welcome toilet break.

We arrived at the pier and were taken to our home for the next night by a smaller, more manoeuvrable boat. Upon boarding our three storey high boat we were greeted into the dining room with tea and a few ground rules then told to dump our bags in our cabins and come back for a lunch feast. We had read reviews of this so called “feast”. As we entered the dining room a spread of fresh prawns, fish, fried rice, boiled cabbage, curry chicken, omelette, corn, spring rolls and fresh pineapple graced our tables as we all assumed our previous seats from our welcome drink. Why do people do that?

After lunch we all boarded the smaller boat again and set out to explore a dry cave. For Mark & I the cave was just another cave. We are not by any means well travelled in caves, but it is very hard to be amazed when only a few days earlier we were standing in the most amazing cave in the world.

We were given free time to Kayak around a small selection of the 3000 Limestone Karsts and explore the local fishing village. It was really quite amazing drifting between some of the 400 floating wooden houses that reside in the bay. Our next quest was a steep 330 steps to the top viewpoint at Titop Island. Once we reached the viewing platform we were speechless (and breathless). We were surrounded by incredible limestone karsts that jutted from the bay.

Dinner was much the same concept as lunch and I am surprised we were able to fit any of it in. After dinner and the sun fell below the horizon we tried our hand at squid fishing. A bait-less fishing lure and bamboo stick are apparently the way to go. We sat patiently bobbing our lures up & down with the hope that a squid would catch a glimpse of the small brightly coloured lure shine under our neon light. Our lack of patience got the best of us and we called it a night.

We rose early, cameras in hand to catch the sun rise over the limestone islands and cast a shade of orange over the bay. There was no sun. Breakfast was in contrast much smaller after the feasts we were presented with for the two meals prior. In true convoy style we were joined by approx 15 other boats as we all cruised back to the pier to make our way back to Ha Noi.

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Comments

[Christine Cowell]

Hi Mark & Bree, yes we are reading your blog. It is very good, we have been to most places also, so it is great to see them again. C:)

[Janice]

The great fisherman
Did you catch any squid? I bought a squid lure this week want me to get you one too.