Halong Bay

Halong bay

As we swerved along the highway to halong bay, I couldn't help but be a little nervous. We were about to embark on a three day, two night tour of halong bay, a distinctly beautiful unesco world heritage site in vietnam. Boat companies that operate in halong bay are known for providing dodgy service. To top that off, I had been a little queasy for the past few days and was not sure if a boat was the best place to be. Nonetheless, our van pulled up at the dock and a short man who went by the name "Jackie, as in Jackie Chan" greeted us. He eagerly explained to us our itinerary, asked us if we liked sea food, and led us down to a pontoon boat. "Oh boy," I thought, "it about time to get onto our leaky, smelly, cramped barge." We pulled up to a large wooden junk. "Not too shabby," I thought, "I wonder how many other people are on this boat?" we threw our bags onto the junk and hopped aboard to discover that we had what I would call a yacht all to ourselves. tHe eight of us would share four double rooms (yes, Jackie, we do want the beds pulled apart), each with it's own bathroom and shower. We were ushered upstairs to a dining room complete with white table clothes, red cloth decorative accents, and wine glasses. Jackie first offered us some delicious peach juice to whet our appetites, and afterward we sat down to our first lunch: a nine-course meal. Let me assure you, I had never had a nine-course meal before, and I very much did not expect to find one on a junk in Vietnam. Despite my trepidation with sea food, I managed to do just fine ripping the heads off of unfortunate but delicious steamed prawns, and the rest of the food was suitably delicious. Accidentally booking a luxury cruise for what we thought was a normal price wasn't so bad. 

We cruised into halong bay proper while I watched from our shaded veranda surrounded by potted plants. The verdant cliffs of halong bay rose sharply out of the water all around. We stopped first at a cave to have a look around. Our intrepid guide Jackie led the spelunking party as we traversed what turned out to be a rather large underground complex. He pointed out all sorts of rock formations that looked like bears, dragons, pigs, people, turtles, and more. As we tired, we left the cool underground oasis and headed back to the boat, where we were welcomed by a basket of fresh fruit and moist towels. After a visit to a "beach" (small sandy area crowded with tourists) we retired to the boat for our ten-course dinner complete with more prawns and clams. 

The next day was to be "action packed." a Jackie's insistence we awoke at 8 for a delicious breakfast, only to sit around for another hour as our boat chugged to our kayaking location. We set off in our kayaks along the smooth waters, marveling at a floating village, complete with a floating school. We explored a small cave and I wondered at the myriad of black crabs scurrying along the mussel-encrusted rocks as everyone else was contented to ram their kayaks into one another. It turns out that Rich (Mangione) knows a thing or two about rowing and is an absolute beast when it comes to propelling a vitnamese kayak. Later that day we kayaked through a few caves, using our flashlights to discover a multitude if bats above. Emerging from the other side of the cave, we found ourselves surrounded by apparently nasty jelly fish. I felt as though I were floating over a pool full of ghosts as I kayaked on.

The rest of the trip was filled with schwimming, eating, stargazing, and jumping off the top of the junk (an exhilaratingly long fall). 

All in all, this part of the trip rivaled Koh Samet in terms of relaxation, and it was simply wonderful.