Cruising Halong Bay

Picturesque views of Halong Bay
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10/08/07

We were up early as we had to be at the Kangaroo Cafe by 8am when the bus would depart to start our Halong Bay experience. The Kangaroo Cafe is an Australian owned cafe and runs tours around Hanoi which we had heard good things about so booked our 2 day/1 night trip with them.

After kayaking everyone retired to the upper deck with a beer or drink while the crew prepared for dinner

Prior to leaving Mike had time to order a coffee (they advertised as having real fresh milk) - requesting take away as we weren't sure if there would be time to drink it. It was hilarious when the girl brought out the plastic cup with hot drink in it, with a straw and in a plastic bag as if it were a milkshake! Being so hot the lid had vacuum sealed which made it difficult to pry open and drink and there was no way Mike was going to drink his hot coffee through a straw! The friends we met later noted they had seen the drink and wondered what the hell it was.

Fine dining on the seas
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So our tour left on time - just 8 of us on the mini bus with our driver and guide Son (pronounced Sun). We met John and Andrea from New Zealand, Nick and Kendell from Geelong and a Spanish couple who mainly kept to themselves over the two days (they were on the last days of their honeymoon so fair enough).

The bus took about 3 hours to get to Halong City and we chatted most of the way discussing previous travels in Asia. We had lunch at a hotel before boarding the boat - a pretty average mass produced set menu with watered down fresh orange juice! That is not a good indicator of how the trip went though...

Lounging on the deck
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It took a while to board our "junk" (wooden chinese boat) as there were many returning to the loading area. It was at this point as we crossed obstacles to get to the boat that Mike "tweaked" his back as he tripped over. The boat was great - a large dining and bar area, 4 cabins with private ensuite, and upper deck where we lazed most of the time!

We cruised out on the bay for the afternoon (must note it was a very hazy day so visibility not great) and then pulled up at a "beach" for a swim. The water in the bay was very warm! Our lifeboat had sprung a leak and was submerged as it was pulled along by the boat, so when we all stopped for a swim the staff were busy bailing water out of the small lifeboat. After this we went to a floating platoon that rented out kayaks to every man and his dog (yes there were even dogs that lived on the water/houseboats) on the bay - first one all out so went to a second one! Kayaking was good fun and we went exploring around the different islands, and taking care not to get in the way of other junks cruising the bay.

Our "Life" boat... sprung a leak
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After kayaking everyone retired to the upper deck with a beer or drink while the crew prepared for dinner. It was a lovely meal that they just kept bringing out... spring rolls, cucumber salad, whole fish, pommes frites (chips!!) and various other Vietnamese delights and pineapple for dessert. After dinner Mike and I checked out the bottles of wine (hooray we get to have some wine!) and discovered a 2000 bottle of shiraz they obviously had just sitting there for years. We cleaned the dust off the bottle and much enjoyed while chatting to the others on board. At night the amount of boats anchored in the same area was amazing, as you could see lights of each just floating around (if not for the rocking of the boat you would just think you were in the city around heaps of other restaurants!).

AMAZING cave (its actually called that!)
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Thurs 11/08/07

Early morning start as you could hear all the other boats getting started around us. It was much clearer on that day so a beautiful view in the morning. Breakfast served pretty early - egg and bread, jams, banana and we tried the dragon fruit which is very pretty (pink skin) however a little bland and weird. Then headed for the "amazing" cave - its name actually translates to amazing - and it really was! It took quite a while to walk through and Mike's highlight was the view of the bay from high up in the cave.

On the deck of our junk
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After this we cruised on the bay a little more and found a little exclusive spot and were able to go swimming again. Not all did but I was sure to get in on the action and jump off the boat a couple of times! They threw out some inflattable sunbeds for us to lay on for a bit - was best part of my morning.

Had to head back to the "mainland" after cruising on the bay for a little longer and docked along with heaps of other boats also returning. We walked to the same hotel again for lunch (disappointing compared to meals on boat but still ok - recommend booking a cruise that involves more meals on the boat). Then it was back on the Kangaroo Cafe bus for 3 and 1/2 hours to Hanoi!

Food vendors dont stop once on the water
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Once back in Hanoi we went to pick up our train tickets, had something to eat at a cafe overlooking the lake and city. Now onto Hue and will report on the train trip in next blog.