Hello Halong, its been a long time coming. When Ant and I were here five years ago we decided as time was short that we wouldn't do a rush job but come back one day and do it properly. Today was that day. So now we three we set off on the long journey from Hanoi. Five hours, rather too many near misses with trucks and buses and one shopping opportunity later, we see in the distant mist the shapes of the karst landscape appear. OK, the rain wasn't ideal, but we weren't seeing the mist and fog that we had thought may blight our view of this place.
After a short walk to the tender (having been instructed we were to go the 100 metres to get there by "walking by feet"), we board our junk, the Dragon Pearl 2 eyeing up the other 16 passengers, a mix of Brits, Aussies and Americans. But they looked ok... This wasn't a soapdodger's boat to David's great relief, with cosy cabins and decent bathrooms with a modern looking shower. We assemble in the dining area where we go through the safety briefing, told where the hammers are to break any necessary windows and where the lifejackets are. That was Gill's first demon to be faced, actually being on a boat... David's suggestion of borrowing his iPad to watch the Posieson adventure didn't go down well... but as long as the boat doesn't either... As we sailed away, we took in the hard to describe breathtaking beauty of Halong Bay. Small grey and green islands dotted everywhere rising out of the green sea and once we were out of the main harbour, contrary to our expectations, there were no other boats around as we glided soundlessy amongst the islands.
We pal up with two great Brit's from London and Brum, Simerjeet and Nimrath and chat away over lunch. The small (!) ten course lunch was surprisingly good, but some rather odd things on their Veggie menu - chocolate pancakes appearing in between savoury dishes was an odd one... We three were the only people having a bottle of wine with lunch, oh dear, Brit's abroad!
After lunch, Sunny, our guide organises the afternoon entertainment, kayaking into a cave, out again and then a quick spin around one of the karst islands before coming back to the boat for a swim. Gill was really unselfish and said she would stay back on the boat as photographer, although really, she would have loved to have gone... Ant and David did a sterling job, although perhaps their techniques could do with something of a polish. From a distance they resembled a rather frantic mosquito as the oars in their two man craft failed to co ordinate. The cave was pitch dark, and too late to realise their flashlight didn't work, their kayak became a maritime dodgem car. But arriving back at the boat safe and sound after travelling more nautical miles than most, a zig zag course always adds a bit of distance!
This is Ant's version of events:
Oh, what fun, a group kayak session!!!! Two to a kayak which involved a perilous lowering of ourselves into the boat off the side and off we went. Feeling like Olympic champions, we headed for a cave. About 5m wide, 100m long and 1.5m tall! We were the last to get to the cave, our technique needing some fine tuning. Everyone else had already gone through what we now realised wasn't so much a cave but a tunnel. It wasn't too long before the tunnel walls got in the way and at this time, the torch, that we had carefully placed in its waterproof bag, ran out of steam. So in the pitch black, our bottom scraping along the submerged rocks, heads being struck by stalactites, we used our paddles to destroy millions of years worth of geology. It was with very little dignity we popped out the other side to the obvious relief our waiting shipmates. Phew, the views in this large caldera like opening were awesome, towering vertiginous cliffs, smothered in trees, hanging on for their lives. Hang on? caldera like means no exit? we had to go back the way we came, 100m more in the dark!!! Grrr...
Eventually, back on the open sea, it was time to explore and led by Sunny our guide, we followed like ducklings. The only problem was that we very quickly became the duckling with the dodgy leg. We couldn't go in a straight line! We drifted further and further behind as we zigzagged inelegantly around the karst towers. Left, left, left, one us us would shout, whilst the other was determined to go right, right, right. Gill had stayed on the motherhsip and was amused to see us finally appear, in a somewhat disorderly fashion, looking like a floating mosquito trying to take off. We declined further offers of kayaking! In reality, we think that the kayak was faulty :-)
Soon time for food again, yet another very good ten course job, oh and a bottle of why why of course, mainly local seafood. We were gathered in a sheltered area for the night, and were joined by the twinkling lights of other boats as they settled in for the night too, apparently there is safety in numbers, always a good thing, and it was virtually the only time we saw any other boats. Having avoided her second demon of kayaking in open sea, it was soon to be replaced with a bang - literally! The rain and wind had been threatening all evening but just as dinner finished, it let loose. The thunderstorm was especially loud when it was directly overhead the thundercracks and lightening coming in together along with monsoonal rain. And there was Gill, in a small boat in the pitch dark.... More why why please.....
Day two begins with a leisurely breakfast, a pho for Ant, egg and bread for Gill and a lie in for David as we continued to marvel at the views outside. We have been amazed by how few boats we have seen, given the reports of it being crowded, but we seemed to have the place to ourselves, I think our decision of doing 3days/2 nights has made the difference, we have had time to get away from the madding crowd.
But before we tuck into our next abstemious ten course meal at least some exercise was called for. Donning the regulation life jackets, (mind you regulation or not, Gill was definitley wearing hers and did think about sleeping in it...) we use the tender to go to Vong Vieng, a small floating fishing village.
On arrival we are transferred to small bamboo boats to take a look around, so Gill's demons continue to be faced. Spread out around an island, the small colourful houses are set on their individual floating pontoons, each with a fish enclosure at the front. Keeping the fish alive for sale doubles the price, so I guess it makes sense. Then for David, his busman's holiday continues as we see another small school. Most kids here finish school after this small primary and go on to be fishermen. Any secondary education means a move to Halong City. We are rowed by local young people and our poor boatmen drew the short straw with three of us in it, all the others just had two's... Of course any outing has to have a shopping opportunity and after inelegantly climbing out of our bamboo boats, this was a floating pearl shop, flogging the jewellery made from the cultured pearls that we had been shown. You have to feel sorry for these guys though, they set up their shop out in the middle of a bay, we all have a look round and no one buys... Then back onto the tender to climb back into the junk.
But the whole issue of Halong Bay and it's relatively recent UNESCO World Heritage status is changing the lives of these people, who, until the mid nineties, and for 200 years, lived in the many caves around here. They were relocated to these floating villages by the Government so at least they can have warning of the deadly typhoons that come in the summer months and some education. But as their settlements increase, the whole issue around managing waste as they gradually become more a part of the consumer society in a World Heritage site comes to the fore. Garbage is now gathered and collected and the locals fish out any loose stuff they see in the water, but the sewage issue is yet to be resolved. Ant reports seeing various unsavoury items floating past when kayaking, nappies were the least objectionable sights. The plan now is to relocate these villages to the mainland in a year or so, but however near the sea those settlements will be, will irrevocably change thieir whole way of life.
An interesting conundrum, do we move the local people out so we as tourists can have a clean environment or do we leave people who have lived there for years to their traditional way of life? And having seen the soapy shower water come out of the boat into the sea (we didn't ask what happened to the loo water...) I'm not sure who is most at fault, the locals or we visitors.
But too late now to take off our tourist goggles, so we sit back and enjoy the astonishing view again and again wonder how soon our next ten course meal will be coming along... We take it all in from the loungers on the top deck as the sun had decided to make an appearance, helping ourselves to good tea and coffee as we sail along. And yes, another ten courses plus the bottle of why why is consumed, and delightfully it's on starched white tablecloths out on deck in the slightly warmer weather.
The only thing to do now is a bit of Candy Crush and a rest before the big night tonight.
Gill obviously neglected some of the background detail to this part of the trip, as we learned we were to have our ten course seafood barbecue that night in a cave, high up on one of the karst islands. All Gill's demon's, boats, climbing hills and caves were coming together now in one big package, (bit like a three in Candy Crush...) especially as there was yet another monumental thunderstorm directly overhead about half an hour before we were due to leave... But buoyed by the thought of the two bottles of wine we had ordered to have in said cave, we set out. Picture this. One junk, 18 people getting off said junk into a small tender, pointy karst islands sticking up like icebergs everywhere you look, pitch dark and no lifejackets to be seen. Airily we are told, no problem, we don't need them tonight, it's dark, so no police..... I didn't realise lifejackets in the dark open sea were just for show... But a ten course bbq awaited and across from the boat a small island was lit up like something from a fairy tale, jutting out of the inky sea, lights climbing up the path to show us our way.
We all clamber out onto the slippery beach and climb up the uneven steps carved into the hillside. We were expecting a dark dripping cave, but this was a perfect, dry beautifully lit, cosily warm series of caverns with stalagtites and stalagmites providing a dramatic decoration. We make our way further and further in through a number of chambers and the cave opens up. We walk along a pathway marked with tealights and hearts to see an impeccably laid table, complete with candles, scattered rose petals and starched white tablecloths.
What a fantastic evening. The crew had been over earlier and set it all up and now the food sizzled away and course after course was served, and of course, we dug into the why why... And no special Vietnamese meal is complete without the Royal vegetable sculpture and a series of amazing vegetable models were brought out for our admiration.
Not wanting such a magical evening to end, after arriving back to the junk, slightly more unsteady on our feet than when we had started out and still lifejacketless, we all had a go at squid fishing off the back of the boat, and yes we did have another glass or two but we were not drunk on a junk... Nor did we catch any squid!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
