halong bay

one of the places i didn't get to go the last time i was in vietnam is also one of the most well-known areas in vietnam, halong bay...i ate breakfast, checked out of my hotel, and was picked up by the tour bus, near the start of all the pickups...i got a seat near the front of the bus, which is always important to me, given my tendency to end up with motion sickness...

boarding the boat:)

it's a four hour drive from hanoi to get to the port where everyone gets on a boat...not surprisingly, there was a stop about halfway through, at a (huge) place where we could buy snacks and souvenirs...tons and tons of tour buses stopped at this place, there was nothing else anywhere close...i always wonder how many people actually buy stuff (other than food i mean) at these places...during the bus ride i figured out where most of the others were from, it was fun to listen to the conversations...there were two other american girls sitting in the back, and i learned that they were also teaching in korea...they didn't stop talking the entire bus ride, and their voices carried...i was once told that i'm the loudest person a certain someone knows, so now, everytime i hear people who are louder, i laugh and wonder what that original person would think...(does that make sense to anyone but me?)...also on the bus were three dutch, a spaniard, and i've forgotten who else...the american girls dominated the conversation...the guide tried to teach us a few things to say, but the only one i remembered was "thank you"...it sounded like 'gom eun' to me...
at the port, our guide collected our passports, and went to get our boat tickets...there were a lot of people milling around, so the whole area was rather confusing...when he came back with the tickets, he handed those out, as well as our passports...this was when he told us that our tour included everything but drinks, and that there would be drinks available for purchase on the boat...he also told us that if we brought drinks on the boat from other sources that we'd have to pay a service fee...i HATE when those sorts of things are told to the guests when it's too late to do anything about it...that's not what i signed up for, and i wasn't inclined to "obey"...

we got on the boat, and he gave a longer speech, telling us the schedule for the rest of the day...he also introduced the captain, and gave us a few details about the boat...(where it was built, how much it cost, etc)...after the speech we were checked into our rooms, i ended up sharing with one of the dutch girls...then lunch was served...5 or 6 courses? it was great food, i enjoyed every bite...and ate way too much, of course...i was sitting at a table with the three dutch folks, so the conversation was in both languages...

after lunch was over everyone went outside and relaxed, enjoying the scenery...it was sooo nice to lay in the sun and just watch the world go by...who doesn't like this kind of scenery? it wasn't as stunning as i expected, but still absolutely lovely...two hours after leaving the dock, the boat arrived at a cave...

i've forgotten the name of it, which can probably be found in my guidebook...not surprisingly, our boat arrived about the same time as every other boat, which meant the area was uber crowded...yuck...howeva, i knew going in that halong bay would be busy, and that i wasn't going somewhere secret...our guide bought our tickets, we got off the boat and walked up the stairs...the cave isn't at water level, you have to walk up about 50 stairs (give or take) to get to the entrance...and it's not a spelunking kind of cave...the caverns were HUGE, there were pathways through the whole thing...

 our guide told the group various facts about the cave, like how old it is, how big it is, how many people see the cave, etc...at least, i assume he did, i wasn't paying much attention to him...many areas were lit with coloured lights, i tried to get a few good photos...i kept getting distracted by photo opportunities, and ended up behind most of the group, but oh well...i reasoned to myself that i wasn't missing much...i've seen a fair number of caves, and i've never heard anything super different from "this cave has been around for a long time"...hee hee...

eventually we all got out and gathered together to get back on a smaller boat...(this smaller boat took us from the big boat to the cave earlier)...the smaller boat then took us to an area where we could go kayaking...think recreational kayaking, like you did at summer camp years ago...not kayaking on whitewater rapids where you need a skirt...i ended up in a boat with an aussie girl, we had fun paddling around for 45 minutes...when we brought our kayak back to the kayak place we were losing light, fast...

halong bay isn't mountainous exactly, but when the sun goes behind one of the karsts, you don't see much anymore...the american girls were 15 minutes late bringing back their kayak, and since it was chilly by that point, people weren't happy...they apologized, saying they didn't know what time they were supposed to come back...the little boat took us all back to our big boat...just after getting back on the big boat, ladies rowing boats filled with snacks and drinks rowed up to the big boat and tried to get us to buy stuff...

their prices were way cheaper than the big boat...they were pretty persistent, but i didn't want anything, so i was good at ignoring them...a few folks did buy from rowboat ladies, and that's when one of the big boat waiters came out and handed them a laminated paper that said how much they had to pay as the service fee: $8 for a bottle of wine, $1 for soft drinks and cans of beer!!! how ridiculous is that? i said it was ridiculous, AND that we hadn't been told about this 'service fee' before the tour started, and he told me to be quiet...i told him that i would not, and that he shouldn't tell me to be quiet, because i'm the customer...he said the boat had drinks, so we didn't need to buy from the rowboat ladies...i told him the big boat drink prices were ridiculous ($1 for a small bottle of water on the big boat, vs less than 50 cents for a big bottle of water in hanoi) so it wasn't a service to the customers at all...i don't think anyone paid the service fee, because it was such a ridiculous amount, and we all felt the whole thing to be underhanded...first, in not telling any of the guests that the fee existed, and second in not telling how much it was until after people bought stuff off the rowboat ladies...
anywho, after that was dinner, another 5 or 6 course meal...YUM...when we all finished  eating and the plates/food had been cleared, our guide turned on the karaoke machine...he seemed oblivious to the massive feedback, though the rest of us were covering our ears...one of the american chickies seemed keen to sing all night long, the rest of us didn't care...i stayed for a little while, then went to my cabin and read for a while before sleeping...the chick i shared with came in not too much later, having stayed up drinking with her friends...about an hour later, she puked...whoops!! fortunately, nothing other than her sheets got dirty...i'm sure the housekeepers enjoyed the smell...whoops...

the next morning my cabin partner slept and slept and slept, i woke up early (0600 local time) and changed quietly, the went out to the deck to wait for breakfast to be served...in keeping with what had happened at every previous meal, it was served later than the time they told us...oh well...also in keeping with every previous meal, there was a lot of food, and it was good...i continued to overeat...hee hee...we weren't able to get into the dining room at all early, because that's where the boat staff slept...after breakfast everyone checked out of the rooms...the boat then 'drove' through more of the bay, which was again nice and relaxing...after another hour or so, all of us on the 3 day/2 night tour got off the big boat and switched onto a smaller boat...those on the 2 day/1 night tour stayed on the big boat, which then made it's way back to the original port...the smaller boat then went for an hour to cat ba island...it's an island in the bay that has a national park...we got off the boat, and got on bicycles that were conveniently waiting for us...i remembered to check my tires and my brakes before taking off, thank goodness...

the ride went around part of cat ba island, which has it's own national park...the bikes were one speed cruisers, not exactly built for speed...one of the ladies in the group is really into triathlons, and does a lot of riding at home in/around london (she's an aussie) so this bike wasn't exactly up to par...hee hee...there were a few hills, which were probably only challenging because the bikes weren't exactly speedy...our guide paused several times, so no one ever got too out of breath...

 the ride took us through a couple really small villages...surprisingly, as we rode through, no one tried to sell us anything...at least, not that i was aware...that was a nice difference from the rest of the country...who can resist taking a photo of one of the super cute kids we saw? she didn't talk at all, she just looked...

after riding one way, everyone took a break...well, sorta...i didn't feel the need to buy a drink or any food, so i went walking...the ladies i walked with were both aussie, including the one i mentioned previously...this trip was a catch up for them, they hadn't seen each other for three years, though they had both previously worked together at a hospital...they're physio therapists...they get to work out while at work, how awesome is that? the triathlete and i kept getting into discussions about gadgets and races and training in general...

eventually this boat took us to our hotel on cat ba island...i had the choice of staying in a bungalow, which sounded rustic, and during this trip, i was over that...as we dropped off those who had chosen the bungalows, i was glad i had gone for the hotel...the bungalow was on a nice beach, but it was small, and there was no where else to go...the benefit i would've had if i had stayed there would've been a lot more area in which to swim...there wasn't a decent swimming area in cat ba town, which is where my hotel was located...a bay filled with boats...the triathlete did find a small swimming area, but was creeped out by the locals watching her swim, so she was only in the water for 15 minutes...i walked around cat ba town with the other aussie...we strolled through a local market (which was definitely for locals, as no one tried to sell us anything, and we were just stared at more than anything) and of course i spotted a bakery...i think there is some part of my genetic makeup that never misses a bakery...lol...we both bought treats, she shared with the triathlete...i was thinking only of myself, and of course bought more than i should've...lol...

 after the walk/bakery stop/swimming the three of us rested up before dinner...also choosing the hotel were two aussie boys, but they'd spent most of the tour drinking, so we weren't expecting them to be on time...as it turned out, they didn't show up for dinner at all...which was a mistake on their part, as the food was the best of the entire tour...the same 5 or 6 course meal as usual, all of it great food...breakfast the next morning was lovely as well...a buffet with LOTS of options...fruit, rice, porridge, fried eggs, soup, etc...i ate...too much...again...the boys did make it to breakfast:)
after breakfast we checked out, and got back on the boat...just before boarding i bought blueberry ice cream flavoured oreos...i'd seen them around, and just because i thought the flavour sounded interesting, i figured i should try them...oreos aren't something i crave very often, and i wasn't craving them at this point either, but i wanted to try the flavour...they were good...from there, the boat went by to pick up the folks at the bungalows (the three dutch and the two loud americans)...from there we rode about an hour, then transferred to a bigger boat, just like the one we'd been on earlier in the tour...that boat took us back to the original port in halong bay...and from there, we all got back on the bus, and "enjoyed" the ride back to hanoi...over all, i enjoyed the tour, and i'm glad i did it...but halong bay didn't stun me like i expected...i'm probably just jaded...the best part of it all was being on the "roof" of the boat, and just relaxing as it cruised through the bay...soooo nice:)