Ha Long Bay

"You go on this boat" said our second guide of the day. "this boat" was a boat that was not even touching the shabby half-crumbling cement dock. How exactly are we supposed to get over there I'm pondering....The two girls in front of me had to be the guinea pigs, which put me a little bit better at ease. We had to hop onto one boat, walk a few steps down the way, climb up the ledge of the boat, step across the slightest break in the water, and hop on the boat. I have my large pack on my back which weighs maybe 25 lbs and I'm carrying a small bag weighing maybe five. The deck is by no means dry, but somehow, we all managed to navigate the waters without falling in and climb aboard one of the tourist boats. Luckily, they have plenty of space for us to leave our packs before heading to the upper deck to sunbathe on this lovely afternoon in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

Mike has become the official photographer. He has our pictures from Ha Long Bay and the pictures will maybe help you to understand how amazing of a place it is. I really don't know if my words will ever give it justice and the pictures certainly will fall a bit short of the actual experience. It's my favorite thing we've done thus far. Ha Long Bay is about 3 1/2 hours or so towards the Gulf of Tonkin. Ha Noi is a bit more in the interior of the country. We decided to book a two day tour of Ha Long Bay and at $34 for both days, it was well worth it.

The 2-day tour included 2 lunches, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast, a bus to & from Hanoi, boat cruising around Ha Long Bay, and our hotel. Quite a deal. The lunches and dinner end up being almost exactly the same meal, which gets a bit old, but who is complaining for $17/day? The tours also seem completely chaotic, yet you manage to make it through. The entire time you are "passed" from one guide to the next guide. Somehow, amid the crowds, they are able to pick you out and tell you which boat, which bus, etc. you are supposed to be on. I think we had at least 7 different people direct us to different places and it somehow all worked. There is no ticket exchanging or showing of any proof that you paid after the initial pick up in Hanoi. Yet their crazy system somehow works.

Ha Long Bay is a World Heritage Site so it will hopefully remain well preserved. There are large groupings of islands throughout the bay and the scenery is breathtaking the entire time. It even rained a little bit but was still a wonder to behold. We were taken through a cave that had awe-inspiring stalactites. (Wikipedia definition ~ A stalactite (Greek stalaktos, "dripping") or dripstone, is a type of speleothem that hangs from the ceiling or wall of limestone caves.) It does have a bit of hokey lighting that give the cave the feeling of a class C horror flick. The guide kept pointing out things and asking our crew what they resembled. Dragons and monks are the safe answers, but he did try to show us some other things like lions and turtles and a bride & groom. Oh well. Unimaginative bunch of western tourists are we ....

After more cruising in the bay, we landed on Cat Ba Island and were collected by a new guide to the Sunflower Hotel. AC wasn't additional and it was a clean room with a balcony. We even had a fridge and "mini bar." (Mini bar = a few beers, cans of soda, and bottled water.) It was so lovely to relax in this very average hotel and I slept well since someone wasn't complaining that the AC was too "cold." The hotel rung us for breakfast and told us that our guide we be along to collect us in 1/2 an hour. How did they know this??? Breakfast in Vietnam that is "included" is always a small loaf of flaky bread, red jam with marginal flavor, and 2 fried eggs. Mike asked for scrambled eggs and instead got no eggs. They usually give you fruit, as well, and we were given bananas.

We continued along and back through the bay, enjoying more lovely scenery. A rumor floated around that they filmed some James Bond flick in the bay. who really knows. When we reached land, we were taken to the "restaurant" and fed yet another meal that was suspiciously like our lunch yesterday and dinner the night before. There is always a green leafy veggie, a fish dish, a meat (not really sure what type) dish, rice, soup, and french fries. For dessert, they bring you a platter of fruit ~ pineapple, watermelon, or oranges.

Learning that patience is a virtue, Mike and I were the only two that came in that initial rush to hang around the little depot area for an additional hour and 1/2 before our bus left. Occasionally our guide of the moment stopped by and told us to "wait, just wait here" (as if we were going to wander away??) and then he pointed to which bus we would be taking. Eventually our guide-of-the-moment left with another bus and we were left waiting for who knows what and no longer a guide to remind us to "wait. wait here." The bus did leave, eventually, with us in tow and we made it back to Hanoi.

We had just over an hour before our next bus to Hue was leaving ....