Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Epic Adventure Day 10-11: Ha Long Bay
I know I'm waaaaay behind, but the rest of the adventure is coming, I SWEAR!!! Some of it's even written, it's just a matter of getting pics up and blahblah and … just stay tuned!!!
On the morning of the 10th Matteo drove me on the scary moto to the travel agency to wait for the bus that would take me to my Ha Long Bay tour. I was picked up (about 30 minutes late... of course) and after a couple other stops we embarked upon the 4 hour journey to the port. About halfway through, we of course made a stop at one of the big "buy crap" locations and then were off again. When we arrived, we were herded into a small waiting area and some people got a nice refreshing glass of tea... I was not one of those people. Soon we jumped onto a small boat, donned the awesome bright orange life preservers, and were headed out to our luxury cruise liner, well, kind of....
The crew stood at the entrance to the boat and waved at us as we pulled up. We all settled into the dining room where we were given keys to our rooms and a brief explanation of the day's events. We had a bit of time to get settled in and then lunch was served. I've always been wary of seafood, and where I live in Thailand I avoid it completely, because I've come to realize that it pretty much all comes from the river which is absolutely vile!! Lunch was almost entirely seafood, and while I hesitated for about 2 seconds, I couldn't have been more pleased once I dove in!
After lunch there was a bit of time to relax and enjoy the sun deck...
...before arriving at one of the floating villages. Here we had the chance to hop in a traditional boat and have a local paddle us around, or man our own kayak and paddle through the bay on our own. I chose the kayak route which was quite relaxing and fun. (I worked at an outdoor adventure company for nearly a year and half in CR and never managed to go kayaking... now twice in a week!!!)
Back on the big boat, we enjoyed a few more minutes on the sundeck, before arriving at the beach. I grabbed my goggles and was excited to do some actual swimming, but quickly discovered that the beach area was small, and there were many people from many cruise boats there, so it didn't work out so well. Instead, I lounged on the beach and watched the sunset...
Sorry Ha Long Bay... you're pretty, but you've got nothin' on my Punta Leona.
When we boarded the big boat again, we were told it was happy hour until dinner time, buy 2 get 1 free (not the best happy hour, but I'll take what I can get). I hung out with the two Serbian and two American guys on the boat until dinner. Dinner was about as awesome as lunch. You certainly won't be hungry if you go on this cruise! I also managed to sit myself next to the couple from Spain, giving me a solid 30 minutes of conversing in Spanish... oh how I miss it (even with that funky accent!).
After dinner it was back up to the sun deck (or maybe it would be considered a moon deck then?) where at chatted with two lovely Finnish women who had left their husbands behind for a girls adventure.
The next morning was breakfast and then a stop at the Surprising cave. While it was a very cool cave, I'd say the most "surprising" part was the waiting to get in... and then through it. Again, LOTS of boats, LOTS of people!! It was pretty impressive though, and our guide took time to point out some of the interesting features of the cave and give us a chance to take pictures...
We finished up with lunch on the boat (even though we'd only had breakfast about 2-3 hours before... they really don't want you to be hungry!) and then headed back to land. As a parting gift, the boat crew gave us vouchers for massages at a place back in Hanoi. The places was conveniently located around the corner from where I was dropped off, so even though the voucher didn't fully cover the massage… it just seemed like the right thing to do.
That night was dinner and more beer hoi with Matteo, Rachael and friends and heading to bed early for the next day's fitness challenge!!!
Total costs: 10th - 145,000dong, 11th - $23 USD + 391,000 dong ~ $48.53 for both days
Labels: floating village, Glory Cruises, Ha Long Bay, Surprising Cave, Vietnam
