Halong Bay (Vietnam)

Dear all,

Sorry we have not updated you for a while – the internet at our last hotel was not very good! So we went to Halong Bay which was beautiful. After a 3 hour very bumpy bus journey we arrived at the port, where the captain had to take all our passports and take them to the local police station! We were then taken onto a small boat that would take us to our cruise ship (I say cruise ship but what I really mean is a large boat!!) So off we went sailing to our boat enjoying the view and the breeze. We see ahead of us our cruise boat and marvel at what we would be calling home for the next three days. However, our smiles turn to fear when we realize our small little boat is heading straight for the cruise boat and doesn’t seem to be slowing down – it crashed straight into it, causing the engine to die and for us to drift out to sea and wait to be rescued by another boat passing by!! After that excitement we were then aboard ship where we enjoyed a lovely seafood lunch (emma and sam ate rice!!), whilst sailing out to Halong Bay which is approx 2 hours away from the port.

The tour guide gave us a room at the back of the boat that had a balcony (although the door wouldn’t work so to get to the balcony you had to climb through the window!) and titled it the "honeymoon suite" (dont worry parents). Once we arrived at the bay we went on a tour of the caves that were really incredible and enormous with stalagimites and stalagtites appearing all over.


The one common thing in all asian countries is people trying to sell you things. This doesn't stop on the cruise boats in the open sea. Woman in their rowing boats (which by the way must be exhausting), float around each of the 150approx boats in the bay selling anything from beer to cigarettes to oreos and pringles (of which we bought the latter two). "you want something" (said in a sterotypical but truthful asian accent) is their way of communicating, which became a joke between the two of us; Sam using it wherever he could, and one time saying it in front of one of these woman by accident.

We then had a choice of sunbathing on the deck or going for a "leisurely" hour kayak around the bay. It was a gorgeous day and so we decided to kayak – BIG MISTAKE! We stepped into our kayak and the first 5 minutes were pretty enjoyable as we admired the emerald green sea and the beautiful rock islands. Then we realized that the tour guide must have formerly been in the army. He kayaked so fast we could barely keep up – our arms were aching and Sam kept yelling at Emma for not rowing in time with him! (Emma did NOT enjoy kayaking one little bit!! - and her effort level showed it!) We then arrived at this amazing lagoon. We stopped to admire for all of two minutes and then the army officer had us working again! By the time we came back to the boat we were exhausted and were HORRIFIED to discover that the crew only turns on the air conditioning at night time! After a loooong cold shower and a lovely dinner we played cards on deck with some new found friends and went to bed - only to discover that our room was directly above the air conditioning generator. As we had not had the air conditioning on during the day we hadn’t noticed but now our whole room vibrated, not in a peaceful rock to sleep kind of way, but more like a vibrating to the extent that you fall off the bed kinda way!! - so much for the honeymoon suite (though maybe we didn't get the whole vibrating idea!)

The following day we were woken up at seven for breakfast (Emma doesn't like mornings and therefore slept through breakfast - sam did no such thing, so don't panic dad!!). We were then told that we were going on a three hour kayak!!!!!! Emma begged (and stropped a little bit - who would have thought) and pleaded not to go but Sam is mean and off we went! We were taken to a smaller boat where we would spend the day. Emma refused to kayak so Sam went off with the others. Emma then changed her mind when the tour guide said she could go in his kayak (which basically meant she could sunbathe while the poor guy did all the work!!) With a different tour guide the kayak was much more enjoyable; we went at a slow pace and explored caves and lagoons. We saw monkeys, jellyfish, crabs, bats and fish. We then kayaked through a floating village where 400 people live. The village includes a school and a hospital and was really quite amazing. The people of the village all make a living through fishing, which 2-3 times a month they go inland to sell, in order for them to be able to purchase other neccesities like rice and medicine - these people have very little to their names - bathing, drinking and playing in the same water, however the children were so friendly shouting out hello to us.

After a bbq lunch on the boat and time to swim in the sea we returned to our cruise boat! The following day we had a three hour cruise back to the port and we returned to Hanoi after a really enjoyable few days.

Back in Hanoi we were desperate… for a burger – rice and noodles gets a bit much after a while! Sam found an American burger place – we were SO excited. However once our order arrived we discovered why the Vietnamese people are so small and so thin – the portion was tiny (even by Emma’s standards!) We then returned to our hotel to pack up and get ready for our next adventure – Hoi An!

Oh btw, Surpise Surprise Sam got an eye and ear infection from jumping (just the once) into the sea, which everyone did on countless times. So the Credit Card bill which says "International SOS Doctors/Hospital" isn't fraudulant Dad, so don't worry. The hospital btw was very clean, and it has all cleared up!!