'Halong Bay-ewty'

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29th and 30th Nov

These two days were all about Halong Bay.

A 3hr cramped journey from Hanoi, we past through some pretty landscapes which were typical of Vietnam: busy villages, women with straw hats in miles and miles of rice paddies, whilst i received an in promptu history lesson from the tourguide - Dao - who had an unsettling robotic smile.

On arrival to a warm (been a long time now since i hadn't felt cold) but foggy Halong city, we saw a population of boats flock to the harbour like dogs to dinner and i felt selfishly that maybe my experience was gonna be shared with 1000s of others...

As my group comprising of 2 dutch: Eelco and Kuerten, 1 French Sebastien, 2 Brit-Belgiums Natalie and Judy, 2 Swiss Chris and Nina, 2 NZ Anne-Marie and Francoise, 1 Korean and a group of middle easterns (who made no effort to speak to anyone outside their clique) boarded the oldest looking boat in the whole bay, it would be a full 24 hrs before we set foot on dryland again.

Feeling like id been swindled with promises of a 3yr old boat and Kayaking - instead im reliably told its more like 13 years old and water sports were a 6$ optional extra...Anyway, once the mist cleared and revealed the Bay's island treasures, it was genuinely as beautiful as anticipated, and my negative thoughts drifted away.  The clear emerald waters seemingly caressed the 3000 or so tree tinged limestone islands, which provided new visual delights every second of the journey, which was not shared by a lot of other boats; they all take their own routes.  We stayed on deck and watched dumbstruck in a long silence to absorb it all.

A delicious hearty feast of a lunch was then served with fresh seafood caught from the side of the boat, giving the sociable lot an opportunity to finally get socialising. We dock briefly at a larger island to visit the aptly named 'surprising caves' presented an awesome array of connected sea-eroded phenomenon, with the most surprising 'hole' being a few hundred metres in length, supported by nothing but its natural structure.

Stopped in a popular bay for the couples to go kayaking together. As i didnt have the strength to go alone in the kayak and nobody wanted to go with me, i had to stay behind even though i was willing to pay 6$ to visit the gorgeous islands at our own pace, albeit within 30 minutes!! (An actual situation when it's better to have a friend or other half) A slow cruise to Cat Ba island, a huge and inhabited island stop for those staying on dry land to disembark or trekking in the national park there, took in more beauty with the fading light.  Dinner was promptly served aplenty at 6pm after which everyone slept early due to being forewarned that breakfast was to be at 7am.  I, however, hung around to chat with the Korean and Sebastian who both had interesting travel stories and it was comforting to know that they also thought that the vVetnamese people on the tourism frontline gave off a bad vibe, which i have wholly disliked so far.

Early morning continental breakfast left us feeling further sleepy as we made our way back slowly to the harbour lounging on deckchairs most of the way, chilling and taking more mental notes of the bay.  I had a great nights sleep on board last night though one of the Brits complained about bed bugs and a loud engine i didnt hear, so someone drew the short straw it seems.

Today is the last day of my SE asia tour and a great deal of sadness comes to the surface as i gently float back to civilisation and leave the backpacker trail.  Although im looking forward to seeing family in HK and my friends in the states, i know im gonna miss travelling alone and the sense of freedom, spontaneity and adventure that goes with it.  Furthermore, everything's gonna seem overpriced from now on!

The last few hours of the trip, involving a lunch in Halong city and the ride back were decidedly ruined by a twat of a tour guide (a new one since the first one left us @ Cat Ba island to take the 3 day tourists trekking) who was plain rude, ordering us to 'hurry up' or 'get off now' with no hint of manners.  For no reason other than personal satisfaction, he rushed us through everything and scolded anyone lagging behind. For instance As i bought some postcards, he shouts to me to move it, as if unzipping my bag to get my wallet to pay was going to cause us great delay.  Everyone seemed dead unimpressed by him and none of us spoke to him.  Moreover, the restaurant we were at seemed hell-bent on ripping us off for the drinks, as only the food was included in the tour price, epitomising what tourism has done to previously honest people trying to make a living...thus we all had to bargain the prices at length so that we didnt have to part with 2 dollars for a small bottle of water.

As the bus couldnt stop for long outside our hotels, the goodbyes were quick as we were told to 'get off' seemingly kicked off the bus as we arrived on the appropriate street. In the unnecessary rush caused by the devil tourguide, we arrived back to our hotels some 1 and half hrs earlier than expected (half 3pm) so this gave an opportune chance to go to the Museum of Ethnology, which, closed on monday, i had resigned to missing.