Halong Bay
We went on a little tour to Halong Bay, which is famous for its karst formations in the sea. It was very beautiful, all you can see is the sea and dotted everywhere are these islands which are massive rocks / cliffs and they just jut out and look like mountains on the horizon. It's amazing!
There are over 1000 single 'islands' in the bay and you get to visit them by going on a boat cruise. We went on one where you can spend the night on the boat and it was a traditional type 'junk' - a large wooden boat with cabins. It was really cool!
Well, our tour was quite cheap, so our boat was not as flashy as a lot of the other ones we saw at the harbour, but it was alright really. So we got on and had lunch and were cruising around looking at the view and then went on to explore some caves. The biggest of them was 'Surprising Cave'. Not sure what the surprise was, but it was big and pretty amazing with all the stalactites and stalacmites. The ceiling looked like a plasterers dream with cornicing all around and we were told it looks like that from the waves that kept crashing into the cave. I can believe that but knowing that the Vietnamese are a crafty lot, I wouldn't put it past them to have given it a helping hand to make it look like that all over... Anyway, it was still nice and we followed some guides around who told you about the legends and the history of the caves in the area.
Apparently, one legend has it that the Chinese tried to invade Vietnam and they were coming by sea (don't know why, makes more sense to invade overland) but then a dragon came to help the Vietnamese and it plunged into the sea and spat out a bunch of pearls that turned into these thousands of islands. As the chinese were going too fast in their boats, they couldn't avoid them and crashed into the islands and perished. Vietnam was saved. The dragon decided though that she really liked it in Vietnam, so she went to the cave and became a stone version and keeps protecting Vietnam.
After that, we went kayaking which was really good! I never kayaked before and Phil and I were in a two man kayak and it was really enlightening. You have to tell each other where to go next, because to me it was obvious to go left and to Phil it was obvious to go right! So funny, so we ended up paddling in different directions and then had to laugh about it. It also was such a production to get out of the boat and into the kayak! We had this little ladder and we had to clamber down it and make it into the kayak and then out again. It was easier climbing in than out and all the time I had visions of plunging in with no change of clothes on me! Thank God that didn't happen.
It was really peaceful kayaking along and the sea was really calm. There are lots of people also living in huts on the water there in the middle of nowhere and they make a living by fishing and ripping off tourists. Basically they come up to your boat in their own little rowboat and they sell fruit and cookies and water, etc. You get really tempted, but then they charge extortionate prices! One lady tried to sell a bit of pineapple for $8!!!!! You have got to be kidding me! The problem is though that some people pay that kind of money and then that makes it more difficult for everyone else to get anything at a decent price.
Anyway, after the kayak, we had dinner and then some wine (we also tried Vietnamese wine) and then went to sleep in our cabin. It was quite exciting sleeping on a boat! First time for me! It was a really decent sized cabin with our own little bathroom and though it was a little bit cold, it was fine and good fun. We had a bit of an adventure also with the wine, basically this French couple and us decided to share a bottle, because some other guys got one and it tasted quite decent. So we order this bottle of French red at a very inflated price and we open it and the bottle is off. I mean seriously off. It was like sweet vinegar and tasted more like port than anything else. At that, the French girl got really upset and refused to drink it and she wanted another bottle. Fair enough, right? Wrong!
We had to argue with the staff for about 30 minutes and they insisted it tasted not wrong at all! We even got them to taste the good one and they still insisted it tasted the same - it was so ridiculous it was funny really. So we ended up getting the guide involved and he rang his boss and then he gave the ok for us to get a new bottle - what a drama for something so basic! I think though the bottle was a fake refill as we ended up getting one from a boat that had anchored close to us and that one tasted fine! It's like this all the time here, you always have to argue and fight and get aggressive otherwise, nothing gets done and you get taken advantage of.
After that drama though, we enjoyed a few more drinks - the captain brought out his homebrew rice wine and the crew and captain got drunk. Well, we got drunk, too. The rice wine is potent! It was quite nice though! I also ended up having a go at steering the boat, which was really exciting! I wasn't drunk though at that point, so no worries there. It had a proper old fashioned looking wheel, so I was really chuffed and felt like Captain Jack Sparrow - ARRRR!
Sadly though, it's back to Hanoi now.
There are over 1000 single 'islands' in the bay and you get to visit them by going on a boat cruise. We went on one where you can spend the night on the boat and it was a traditional type 'junk' - a large wooden boat with cabins. It was really cool!
Well, our tour was quite cheap, so our boat was not as flashy as a lot of the other ones we saw at the harbour, but it was alright really. So we got on and had lunch and were cruising around looking at the view and then went on to explore some caves. The biggest of them was 'Surprising Cave'. Not sure what the surprise was, but it was big and pretty amazing with all the stalactites and stalacmites. The ceiling looked like a plasterers dream with cornicing all around and we were told it looks like that from the waves that kept crashing into the cave. I can believe that but knowing that the Vietnamese are a crafty lot, I wouldn't put it past them to have given it a helping hand to make it look like that all over... Anyway, it was still nice and we followed some guides around who told you about the legends and the history of the caves in the area.
Apparently, one legend has it that the Chinese tried to invade Vietnam and they were coming by sea (don't know why, makes more sense to invade overland) but then a dragon came to help the Vietnamese and it plunged into the sea and spat out a bunch of pearls that turned into these thousands of islands. As the chinese were going too fast in their boats, they couldn't avoid them and crashed into the islands and perished. Vietnam was saved. The dragon decided though that she really liked it in Vietnam, so she went to the cave and became a stone version and keeps protecting Vietnam.
After that, we went kayaking which was really good! I never kayaked before and Phil and I were in a two man kayak and it was really enlightening. You have to tell each other where to go next, because to me it was obvious to go left and to Phil it was obvious to go right! So funny, so we ended up paddling in different directions and then had to laugh about it. It also was such a production to get out of the boat and into the kayak! We had this little ladder and we had to clamber down it and make it into the kayak and then out again. It was easier climbing in than out and all the time I had visions of plunging in with no change of clothes on me! Thank God that didn't happen.
It was really peaceful kayaking along and the sea was really calm. There are lots of people also living in huts on the water there in the middle of nowhere and they make a living by fishing and ripping off tourists. Basically they come up to your boat in their own little rowboat and they sell fruit and cookies and water, etc. You get really tempted, but then they charge extortionate prices! One lady tried to sell a bit of pineapple for $8!!!!! You have got to be kidding me! The problem is though that some people pay that kind of money and then that makes it more difficult for everyone else to get anything at a decent price.
Anyway, after the kayak, we had dinner and then some wine (we also tried Vietnamese wine) and then went to sleep in our cabin. It was quite exciting sleeping on a boat! First time for me! It was a really decent sized cabin with our own little bathroom and though it was a little bit cold, it was fine and good fun. We had a bit of an adventure also with the wine, basically this French couple and us decided to share a bottle, because some other guys got one and it tasted quite decent. So we order this bottle of French red at a very inflated price and we open it and the bottle is off. I mean seriously off. It was like sweet vinegar and tasted more like port than anything else. At that, the French girl got really upset and refused to drink it and she wanted another bottle. Fair enough, right? Wrong!
We had to argue with the staff for about 30 minutes and they insisted it tasted not wrong at all! We even got them to taste the good one and they still insisted it tasted the same - it was so ridiculous it was funny really. So we ended up getting the guide involved and he rang his boss and then he gave the ok for us to get a new bottle - what a drama for something so basic! I think though the bottle was a fake refill as we ended up getting one from a boat that had anchored close to us and that one tasted fine! It's like this all the time here, you always have to argue and fight and get aggressive otherwise, nothing gets done and you get taken advantage of.
After that drama though, we enjoyed a few more drinks - the captain brought out his homebrew rice wine and the crew and captain got drunk. Well, we got drunk, too. The rice wine is potent! It was quite nice though! I also ended up having a go at steering the boat, which was really exciting! I wasn't drunk though at that point, so no worries there. It had a proper old fashioned looking wheel, so I was really chuffed and felt like Captain Jack Sparrow - ARRRR!
Sadly though, it's back to Hanoi now.
posted by Phil and Tanja @ 2:22 AM
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