Halong Bay - Riding on the Junk

Fishing House
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A morning departure from Hanoi put us in Halong Bay about 1:00 p.m.

The drive, the highway experience, and the countryside were eye openers much in the same way the entire trip has been.  Halong City is about 165 km or about 110 miles from Hanoi.  Nearly fives hours along the way with a shopping stop midway seemed long, but very interesting.

I don't really know what camping with monkeys is really like.

Most of the way was by fairly good highways through both urban and rural parts of the country.  There were many farms a;along the way growing a number of crops.  Those I can remember included: bananas, sugar cane, soy bean, corn, and rice.  I know they also grow many other crops and I've probably forgotten the most important ones.  Each farm and house had a garden and it's my sense that every village has a market.

Halong City Harbor
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I'm really starting to get an appreciation for the Vietnamese sense of family through their homes.  In the three-story variety, we've been told that the young people live on the top floor, the parents on the second, and the grandparents on the ground level.  Most Vietnamese have a really strong sense of both family and community.

We arrived at the dock in Halong City where many junks were docked, arriving, or leaving for their sea journeys in Halong Bay.  Carrie and I had a small port side cabin which was very comfortable and met all our needs on the voyage.  The bay's seas would remind folks of the waters of the inside passage: very calm and smooth though I suppose they do have some storms.  It's the dry season in northern Vietnam so we've seen no precipitation.

The Italian Couple is on the Right
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The junk traveled through a fairly misty mystical string of karst (limestone) geography - little islands popping out of the sea all over the place.  We'd just sail in between them on to our first stop which was an island with a very large cave.  The story is that a fisherman found the cave some years ago by accident, reported it to government authorities, and the rest is history.  There were hundreds and hundreds of other seafarers visiting the cave when we did - people from all over the world.

"Setting Sail"
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The cave is very well maintain and might remind some of Carlsbad Caverns with all the color and water.  It was perfectly dry.  In fact, it took quite a climb to get to the entrance of the cave and a good 45 to 60 minutes to explore along a scheduled path inside.

After the cave, we boarded the junk for a short trip to another island and beach.  Carrie decided to hike to the top to catch the view.  I got into a sea kayak for a trip some three of four miles across the bay.

Halong Bay
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I had one of the junk's crew in the front of my boat so I got to steer some.  We actually made a pretty good team doing that coordinated thing you have to do in a two-preson kayak.  We were joined by an young Italian and his wife.  I first realized we were in trouble when she refused to get in the kayak because she would get wet.  No seriously!  She had one of those fits you see in foreign films made by Italian women.  It was classic - yelling both at her husband and the three crews members who were trying everything they could do to help the poor woman pretend she could stay completely dry while out in a sea kayak.  I felt really sorry for her husband.  This delayed our departure for thirty minutes and actually ruined a visit to a lagoon inside one of the karst islands because we didn't arrive until after dark.

Seaworthy Boats
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The worst part was that while the guide and I made good progress across the bay, the Italian couple couldn't coordinate their paddling the kayak.  They were flailing terribly in this spastic sort of way.  They fell desperately behind in the water - at times some 400 - 500 yards.  I could have been imagining it, but I swear I heard her yelling at him in Italian all the way across the bay.

Of course, the guide and I were stopping to let them catch up periodically, but as the sun set he became more and more insistent that they hurry.  There were over 100 junks cruising the waters with some ten or fifteen attempting to anchor in the same vicinity as ours.  It got pretty dangerous as the dark set in with junks sailing by on all sides.  I don't really know what the Italian couple were thinking, but I can imagine.  We lost them in the dark as we paddled briskly to our junk.  Trouble was, all the junks look the same in the dark!

Sails!
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They arrived some twenty minutes after we did.  The guide kept using the light on the display of his cell phone to guide their way.  I only assume that they made it to the ship by that method and his screaming, "hurry up, hurry up, it's getting dangerous" and "look out for that boat" and "there's a kayak in the water trailing behind us", and a couple "Oh my gods!"

We all survived to tell our stories.  Definitely a fun place for kayaking.  The guide referred to it as "playing kayak".  Would be really fun to do it for a week or so and camp on the islands as you went.  Of course, I'm romaticising a bit as I don't really know what camping with monkeys - as some island have - is really like.  :-)

Anchored at the Cave
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Fish - we ate fish constantly!  Our first meal included incredible amounts of claims, squid, fish soup, fish fillets, some sea urchin looking things (really don't know what they were and was afraid to ask), crab, and rice.  We had three meals on board all about the same.  Now I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining.  I had the best squid I've ever tasted on the boat!  When in Rome...

We also met Gloria and Joe from Maryland.  They were a delightful older couple traveling in Asia (Joe's choice).  They were traveling and doing really well getting around and participating in many of the activities both on board and off.  They're an inspiration that we'll be able to continue to do these sorts of things for years to come.

Hang Sung Sot
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I slept better than I have since I was in the Navy.  The junks just sort of rock back and forth all night long and of course the water was relatively calm.  After our fish-based breakfast, we visited the cave we didn't make it to on the kayaks.  There's a photo looking back after floating through the opening.  The interior was what you might think a tropical island might look like in somebody's perfect dream.

We were back in Halong City by noon.  If you ever go - a minimum of three days is a must if you can afford the time.

Kayaking in the Dark
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Our trip back to the Hanoi included a stop at a pottery factory.  A genuinely interesting place.  Carrie must have taken 100 photos (she's into pottery).  The workers there were all really friendly.  They each belonged to production groups much like in any factory.  There were the folks that were preparing the molds, pouring the molds, chasing the semi-dried pottery, smoothing out the rough spots, painting glaze, firing the pots, stacking, shippomg, etc.  It was interesting to see the various aspects of the process.

An Afternoon Climb
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Of course, Carrie and I bought a few small things for souvenirs.  Hope they make the 15,000 mile trip through all the bagge handlers and US customs.

Back in Hanoi we toured the Old Quarter again, had a wonderful dinner and really appreciated the night's stay at the Metropole, before our excursion west to experience the hill tribes.