Vietnam Day 3 - Hanoi to Ha Long Bay

Club Tropicana drinks are free...

We were up and ready for our shuttle bus north to the coast and Ha Long Bay,  both really excited about this part of the trip – we forked out a fair amount of money for the trip too, so were pretty glad that the Typhoon weather seemed to have cleared up there (the couple we met at the homestay the day before had their trip postponed by 3 days because of it). First we had to get a taxi to the bus stop – the first one didn’t show up, so Thuy called another company and then proceeded to have an argument with the driver when he arrived. She said to us “he is not very nice – but cheap!”, waved us goodbye (I even got a bit of a hug which freaked me out a little) and we were off.

Have had worse views.

On arrival – he shut the engine and meter off and jumped out to throw (literally) our bags out of the cab onto the street, then put out his hand for the money. I pointed at the meter and said how much – to which he got even more surly, stomped back into the drivers seat and reluctantly turned it back on. 64,000d – about right, I grabbed the 60 – then as I was finding 4000 in small notes he saw them in my wallet and literally grabbed them from my fingertips! Fortunately he only grabbed the right money (probably as the door was still open) – so I kicked it as hard as I could shut and he shot me a particularly dirty look as I swore at him, but he drove off so I considered it a moral victory.

Then, we were completely lost. Thuy had been hazy about the bus deatails and we hoped that it’d be really obvious – it wasn’t. Then some chap came up to us and asked our names and if we were waiting for a bus… to Ha Long Bay. Instantly I was concerned, then he whipped out an itinerary to see if our names were on it. We saw the travel company the homestay owned – but with the name James Leeso. Hesitantly we showed him our tickets, and he seemed keen and soon his bus pulled around and we were aboard – slightly confused! After asking the rest of the bus where they were headed – I felt reassured we weren’t going to this guys suit factory (or worse), we picked up a few stragglers and were on the road.

The drive up there was OK for the first hour or so – then we stopped for breakfast at a massive indoor market selling all kinds of overpriced god-awful shitty faux marble statues & water features, jewelry and artwork – plus some barely edible fast food. It also featured some toilets where you could see your neighbor through the green plexiglass partitions! The next couple of hours were awful – the road quality deteriorated and was bumpy as hell, our driver was mental and apparently struggling to maintain consciousness and the air-con didn’t work once the midday sun hit. It was a relief to make it to the port in once piece!

We were ushered to a waiting room and assured our backpacks would follow us onto the boat separately. After some paperwork formalities – we were herded onto the tender, given life jackets and en route to our home for the next 3 days – the Dragon’s Pearl II.

Neighbours.

Ha Long itself was nothing to write home about – there were loads of high-rise hotels on the waterfront, but on the way in an equal amount of abandoned developments – 15 floors of bare concrete and exposed steel framework, now being lived in by hard-up locals. The harbor was absolutely PACKED with pleasureboats of all shapes and sizes (but only one colour, white – a new govt regulation for tour boats). The water was azure blue and in the distance you could see the fabled limestone rock formations jutting vertically from the ocean, as far as the eye could see disappearing into the mist.

At the waiting room we befriended an Aussie couple from Melbourne called Ben and Tara – about our age and seemed friendly enough, so we ended up sat together once we were aboard our boat. Our Vietnamese tour-guide Tom had already given us a slightly weird welcome speech on shore – and spent 15 minutes explaining our itinerary for the next 3 days. He spoke pretty good English – but had some mannerisms that kept making Lisa and me giggle uncontrollably and we felt like the naughty kids in class.

Sunset.

The demographic on the boat was pretty mixed – us, the Aussies and a British couple about the same age. Another couple from Germany and London mid-thirties, a retired Aussie couple – and 6 German pensioners. Immediately all the Germans were together – and the former colonies the other side, including one American girl on her own.

We started with – obviously, a 10 course lunch whilst we trundled out of the bay. Everyone was in pretty high spirits, we broke the ice and ordered the first beers and clearly everyone else was a bit nervous about it because afterwards the whole boat was getting booze too. The food was amazing – better than anything we’d managed to eat in Hanoi – and it just kept coming, and coming, and coming! By the end, we were all stuffed – slightly merry and a bit at ease about the upcoming trip.

Our room was something else. For a start – it was bigger than the entire apartment we’d stayed at in HK. We were on the ground floor – and the huge windows looked out over the water (with no deck outside – unlike the top floor rooms, so we lucked out!). The bathroom had a regular AND monsoon type shower, and came with Japanese style robes to swan about in. We were well chuffed!

We shipped ourselves upto the top sun-deck to enjoy the amazing views for an hour or so whilst the ship cruised to our first activity of the day – Kayaking! Lisa was a bit nervous about it because of her gammy shoulder, and we were concerned she wouldn’t be able to join in. Fortunately they had doubles so she got in the front and documented with the camera whilst I applied the brute – Steve Redgrave type force at the rear.

The starting point was a man-made beach at the foot of one of the Islands and a popular spot) there were 4 other Junk Boats there when we arrived and a group of kayakers just finishing. We clambered in – and set off just as the sun was starting to set over the distant islands and. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the temperature was about 26 and the water was even warmer – with not a trace of current or swell at all. It was like gliding through a huge pond, we had to stop repeatedly in amazement at how serene it all was and how lucky we were to have gotten there.

Restaurant foyer.

After a 45 minute jaunt around a few islands – we stopped off at the beach again for a quick swim whilst the sun went down and turned the sky a rather picturesque orange colour. There was a pair of dogs running around the beach, along with their three puppies who all apparently lived there and got fed by the tour operators which we played with in the sand, before heading back to the boat to get ready for dinner.

It felt like far to soon to be eating after lunch – but the kayaking had given us a bit of an appetite, plus we knew we would be in for a bit of a treat for out meal. In researching the boat – we saw from reviews that, when possible, they take everyone back to the same kayaking island and up a hundred steps or so into a limestone cave for a candlelit dinner. Fortunately for us – it was on!

Cave dining - only half of the table.

We boarded the boat again, and had both gotten fancied up and headed to the cave. The walk up was a bit precarious, as was the descent down into the cave itself. The ancient limestone formations were amazing in the first area – then it opened out into a huge cave where all the boats crew were stood – lining the candlelit pathway applauding us as we headed to our seats! It was bloody surreal, but we smiled, applauded them back and rolled with it.

Again – the food was great, and the chef had prepared a couple of elaborate centerpieces carved from a variety of fruit and vegetables – it was like something from a Heston Blumenthal show! We ate, drank, chatted and laughed and had a great time – and it continued back on the boat with all the Brits and Aussies having more drinks on the deck. After the campervan, air beds, hire cars, metro rides and walking endless distances around strange cities it felt amazing to finally just relax.

Our sturdy vessel - Dragon's Pearl II