Ryan and I travelled there with his friend, Prema and many members of her (outrageous) family. With 16 of us we were a tour group all on our own.
We landed in the cool and lovely north (from cookin' hot Battambang, Cambodia) and met up with the family at a hotel in Hanoi.
Next morning we bussed to the coast to board a junk (the Thanh Hung #18) in Halong Bay. There were many, many, many other junks in Halong Bay but ours was probably the most fun. Our route took us through hundreds of curious small islands that rose up cliff-like out of the sea. Most looked uninhabited but a few showed signs of life and one had stairs to the peak (a lot of stairs, too many for me) with a Pagoda at the top! I think a great view.
The weather was grayish and cool but our spirits bright. I kinda reminded me of a rain forest, lush, with that kind of heavy humidity.
Our junk housed all 16 plus another 6 or 8 from another tour. There were two decks of cabins, (the middle deck had the dining area) and the top was a sun deck, or should I call it the games deck? In the other group were three young women from Seattle, Washington who were going into a remote village to visit the place where one of the girls was born.
After arriving at our destination they anchored in the bay and ferried us over to visit a huge cave, the stalagmite/stalactite kind (you know the difference, right? ... when the "mites" go up, the "tights" come down... you won't forget now) There were stairs and walkways built for easier access and the rock areas were all spotlit with soft colours. I was lovely and there I was without my camera, arghh...
Next came the ferry to take us to another dock of kayaks and they sent us out to explore the islands close by. What a fun day!
We finished with a great meal, many dishes of seafood and veggies and things I couldn't identify. It was to follow with a night of karaoke but the machine was broken, some of us didn't mind. I was ready for bed after all that. I'm getting old you know?
wish you were there
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