We did our first group tour that included overnight accomm, shopped around – promises and prices varied massively but we settled on one in the end for a trip to Halong Bay.
We were picked up in a transit van that had seats in it to make it slightly resemble a mini bus. Every seat was full, Xan was in front I was on back seat and the cramped, hot journey was 3.5 hrs long during which we were subjected to some awful, cheesy lines from our guide ‘Thung’ and a horrendous selection of music that included an interesting version of jingle bells (random).
On arrival at Halong Town we followed Thung through the mass of tourists, their guides and touts, and eventually arrived on one of about 100 boats of varying standard that were all full of tourists doing exactly as we were. The boat itself was nice, our room small but way better than a lot of the ones we’d stayed in so we were pretty happy.
Other people on the boat were not – an Oz mother and daughter were going mental after realising they’d paid twice what anyone else had and been shown a picture of a different boat and a French family who had been charged and paid for 6 people only had 4 beds! A lot of shouting, arguing, shouts of ‘go on, call the police’ ensued which resulted in the French family being taken to another boat (and quite right, their complaint was completely valid and terribly handled by Thung and the other staff onboard) and Xan and I sitting down to lunch with the Ozzies! The food was good, the chat not as they ranted about being conned, told us we would get food poisoning and at one stage compared experience to that of the jews during the Holocaust…
We escaped to the top deck and the scenery was stunning. Huge tree covered limestone Rock Islands protruding from the turquoise water, birds of prey flying above us, mist cloud and sunshine. We arrived at one particular Island and headed off with Thong to see a huge cave (the mother and daughter remained on the boat and refused to join us). Now the cave was impressive, an incredible feat of nature but we were one of so many groups and all you could hear were the guides making the same awful jokes that ours was – about dragons living there and a rock that resembled a cock! What also became apparent very quickly was that for a guide, Thung didn’t know much, he dodged questions on the war and about the cave and some of what he did say was just wrong!
After the cave we did some kayaking round the bay. That was great and Xan and I are alright with a paddle even if I do say so myself so we could go pretty far away from everyone else and got a close up view of quite a few islands, unfortunately we also got a close up view of the oil slick and rubbish and other forms of waste (not pleasant at all) that comes from so many people being shipped in and out!
Know as tourists on a trip we are part of the problem but such a shame that more is not done to protect the area – laws on rubbish and waste disposal etc. Obviously a great way for many Vietnamese people to make money out their beautiful country but won’t stay pretty for long if it continues as it is.
That night we were on a different table to the mother and daughter, who had most definitely not calmed down and had some good banter with an Oz couple in their 50s and the two spanish guys. Even did a bit of squid fishing off the back of the boat, we caught loads of, huge, ok we caught nothing!
After being rocked to sleep on the boat I was awoken by shouts of ‘get me off this fucking boat’, ‘you’ve ruined my holiday’, ‘ you are a dick head’ and ‘don’t fucking touch me I’ll have you charged’. Xan had finally snapped. Ha ha not really. I quickly pulled on some clothes to find the Australian daughter in floods of tears and going mental! I attempted to calm her down and asked what had happened – to be told nothing, she just wanted off the boat! She had totally flipped – probably just getting angrier and angrier through the night and blown her top. I suggested she went to her room to calm down but it didn’t work. Fireworks went on a bit longer and eventually died down.
Don’t know how it all ended as the two of us and the Spanish guys were heading on another boat to Cat Ba Island. As we left we were handed a feedback form. God I wish I’d been there when that was handed to the Mother and daughter! Not sure the tick box options included ‘dickhead’ or ‘holiday ruined’.
The four of us and Thung’s first stop was Cat Ba Island Nature Park and we cycled prob the worst bikes yet (and that’s saying something) through some gorgeous scenery on the Island. At one point Xan asked Thung what animal was making a certain noise – he said it was either a bird, insect or frog, but definitely not a dog – so that cleared that up! We stopped for a drink of rice wine that was poured from a plastic tub that had 2 snakes and 2 birds in it and was for a man’s virility! Xan passed, I went first (Scottish), just tasted like strong alcohol really!
Next was Monkey Island – which the 4 of us were pretty much dumped on and told by Thung they’d pick us up in half an hour! There were some signs pointing into the trees on the Island so we followed them and it turned out to be a trek to…the other side of the Island, which was the same and then we walked back again. On the way we passed by a monkey, he was pretty close to us and even followed us on the way there and the way back. back on the boat the Spaniards told us they had seen the monkey take a swipe at a guy that approached it with a stick! Later read in Lonely Planet that the monkeys on the Island often bite and this leads to an obvious rabies threat!
Finally we were dropped at our hotel on Cat Ba Island, hired a scooter and headed off to explore on our own. Passed through lots of little villages and communities, gorgeous greenery and other than nearly running out of petrol (which was purchased from an elderly woman in a 2litre water bottle) loved it and wished we’d had longer to see more of it.
Randomly bumped into an ex colleague of Xan’s that night in a bar on the Island (small world) and headed back to Hanoi via boat and then transit mini bus the following day. There are other
ways to see Halong Bay and ones very similar to it further up the coast, these are generally more time consuming but wish we had spent the time and effort planning it our own way. Won’t be in a rush to do anything similar if we can help it!
(Source halong-bay-kayaking/halong-bay-blog)
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