Hello Halong!

8am pick up from Maison d’Hanoi  for our road trip to Halong Bay on Saturday 17th. Our guide for this part of the tour is Joe, a lovely man who has made us laugh quite a lot. We will leave in 5 and a half minutes. He has been a very helpful and informative bloke. Note to self for next time: don't go to Halong Bay on the weekend - the traffic is heaps worse than during the week on the road out of town. Mr How is our driver and we ask Joe if he is a safe driver and Joe says 'I will tell you tomorrow when we get back to Hanoi'! And lunch will be in 35 and a half minutes.  Our boat belongs to the Bai Tho Group and is Halong Sails 89, at first glance seems safe, and as it turns out is. We take a tender out to our boat and are served the most amazing seafood lunch once we have cleared the main docking area and find a nice quiet patch. Joe tells us it is 5 and a half stars.

Our cruise companions include a couple of guys from Switzerland, 2 girls from Japan, a lady from France and another couple, not sure from where.

After lunch we go by tender to the Surprising Cave, Sung Sot Cave. Joe tells us about 600 and a half steps, some up some down, but mostly round and round. Carolyn and Brenda count the steps and tally 722! Joe says he will adjust his talk for next time. It is amazing that such caves exist out here, they made us all think of Jenolan caves. It was a fair haul up to the cave entry, but once inside it was a little bit up and down, but as Joe said mostly round and round. Would have loved to take the tripod in there with us, but didn’t realise we would have any use for it out here and have left it back in Hanoi. Just have to hope for the best. Back to the main boat for a short cruise to Titop Island where there will be 45 and a half minutes for "schwimming" and if anyone wants they can climb to the top and see the view. Well, much as I’d love a schwim, I HAVE to go to the top for the view. It was less steps, but straight up with a few landings on the way (in the heat) le puff, le pant………. It was SO worth the effort. Almost 180 degree view across the eastern side of the bay, not so good to the west as the sun was low in the sky, so very glarey. Once we got our breath back and took some great photos, we reluctantly headed back down, with just enough time for me to jump in the water and cool off.

Lots of scenery in Halong Bay

Worth climbing Titop for this!

By the time we got back to the Halong Sails, the sun was setting and while Joe said there was time for showers etc before dinner because dinner was in 35 and a half minutes, Trevor and I weren’t going to miss the sunset, so we headed up onto the roof deck and saw a very lovely sunset, and just when we thought it was finished, there were rays beaming across the sky in an amazing blue and gold. There was time before  dinner to adjourn to the top deck and take up positions on the sun lounges to watch the stars and chat about the journey so far. Dinner was 7.15pm and again, a seafood lover’s paradise. We were worried about Anke and her allergic reaction to seafood but she survived unscathed. A bunch of very tired travellers by now, so some had an early night, and we came back downstairs to check out what we hoped were some good photos from the day.  

Amazing.......

The plan was to get up for sunrise but it had been raining and was overcast, so we rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. No such luck, the boat was waking up and the crew had their jobs to do. When we did see the sun it didn’t compare to the sunset, so we’re glad to have stayed in bed! Breakfast scheduled for 7.15 but was ready a little earlier. Bacon, egg, toast, juice, tea/coffee, banana and some laughing cow cheese. Filled us up. No sooner finished than Joe tells us we have to go to see an open cave. It’s where the roof of the cave system collapses into the middle, leaving a ring of karst formation around the outside and a bay in the middle. In Thailand they call them a ‘hong’, don’t know what the name is for them in Vietnam. Once again back to the boat to pack up and be out of our cabin by 9.30, so the cleaning can commence for the next cruise. Early lunch today is the plan and back to Bai Chay wharf for disembarkation around midday. The lovely girl who has been our waitress is also the jewellery sales rep and when we come back to the main room, she is (again) showing her goods to Brenda, Carolyn and Anke in the hope that they’ve changed their mind from last night. I don’t think they have………… she goes away disappointed.

Lunch is another delightful meal, not so much seafood this time which worked out well. We were off the boat by 1200 and back on the road again. The trip back seemed a bit quicker, as it always does, despite 2 stops for 'happy house' and inspection of crafts with the opportunity to buy, of course. Joe has been an absolutely brilliant guide and if/when we come back we will be checking to see if he is available. Plus he gives a really good massage!

We’ve all decided that booking a twin room is definitely the way to go, as so far Brenda and Carolyn have scored bigger rooms than the doubles we others have had.

Found ourselves at the REAL 'Kangaroo Cafe' and had something to eat while we wait for our 7pm transfer to the airport for the flight to Danang for Hoi An.