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June 30, 2005

Hanoi and Halong Bay

From Hanoi we wanted to take a boat trip up to Halong bay while our passports were at the Chinese embassy getting visas affixed into them.

We decided to go with a tour group (by far the easiest way to do it here) we choose the Kangaroo Cafe which is run by, surprisingly enough, Australians. And so it was that 2 days after arriving in Viet Nam's capital city we were whisked away to the coast for three days of the scenic Halong Bay.

Halong is the bay you ask? I don't know for sure but it is quite extensive. The Vietnamese traditional story is that it was formed when a mighty dragon descended into the water. The full name actually means "Where Dragon Descended."

Our means of transport was an old Chinese "Junk." It was a sturdy old wooden vessel outfitted with a few modern ammenities. For the life of me I could not get the scoop on the origins of the name.

We had a fun group on board which made the trip all the more enjoyable. In particular we met a great couple from Australia named Jasmine and Damian. We passed the first few hours chatting with them and taking in the enchanting views of the bay. After visiting one of the many natural caves in the area - the one we stopped at translated (perhaps for the benefit of tourists) as "amazing cave. - we set out to the middle of the bay for some swimming.

The fun part was diving in off the two story boat into the magenta waters. One only had to be careful to avoid the occasional nasty jellyfish (our guide was a victim). We had dinner on the boat that night and dropped anchor in the bay to spend a night being lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the boat.

The next day we pulled in to dock at Cat Ba Island for the night. This was perhaps the most exciting and certainly the most chaotic part of our trip. It seemed as if there were about 30 junk boats vying for one or two docking berths. Instead of some type of organized que that you might expect from responsible seamen it was a sort of free-for-all with boats literally crashing into each other to jockey for position. It was all very amusing to the passengers as the crew members rushed around frantically: pushing off of other boats, screaming orders to the pilot, screaming at other crews. At the peak of the absurdity - as another boats anchor line was tearing panels off of our boat - Damian turned to me and said, "I think this is why they call them 'Junks,' Jim."

After a night on the island, including a dinner of some delicious seafood, we headed back to the bay for more swimming and sightseeing. The morning also included a dubious stop at "Monkey Island" where we waited an hour to see if any of the monkeys wanted to descend to the beach from their mountainous retreat to try to steal our sunglasses and cameras (apparently they are notorious for this as we were warned copiously). Needless to say they did not and we finally convinced our guide to let us get back on the boat.

We spent a few more hours cruising the bay before we returned to the mainland and were shuttled back to Hanoi. The city was buzzing with the excitement of the weekend and it seemed that all 10 million or so motos (read: mopeds) that inhabit the city were out on the streets looking for action.

We took in some of the sights around the city, including a visit to Ho Chi Minh's mauseleoum. This was an interesting experience: waiting in the long line with hordes of Vietnamese, surrounded by teenage soldiers who seem to have forgotten how to smile, passing through the austere communist building to see a glowing wax-like Uncle Ho for a few seconds before exiting to pick up our cameras (not allowed in).

After a scrumptious lunch at KOTO (Know One Teach One a cafe that takes in and trains street kids) we finished the afternoon wandering the maze of alleys and streets that comprise Hanoi's Old Quarter. It is a colofrul area filled with shops specializing in anything from candles to metal sculptures.

It was almost time to leave Vietnam and head to China. We had a fun final dinner with Damian and Jasmine and packed our bags to head for the middle kingdom . . .


A Halong Bay sunset

Posted by Jim & Lisa on June 30, 2005 04:08 AM
Category: Vietnam
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