Joey and I have been busy bees since getting to Vietnam. We spent the first couple of days getting used to the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. Got lost quite a few times trying to find our hotel, but we always eventually found where we needed to be.
We booked a trip to Ha Long Bay with a tour company called Kangaroo Tours. It was reasonably priced. Only $79USD for a 2 day 1 night trip to Ha Long. Our scottish friends Jamie and Lindsey were supposed to come with us, but Jamie ate a chicken burger at an Irish bar in Hanoi and they decided to reschedule. Turns out Jamie has a parasite, which is something Joey and I are going to be really careful of from now on. Jamie doesn't know what gave it to him, but it sounds like it is a pretty nasty parasite that seems to cripple you for days. Joey and I are going to be smart about our food choices from now on. We'll wash our fruit with soap and water, brush our teeth with bottled water, ask for no ice in our drinks and avoid salads when possible. Neither of us want to have to deal with what Jamie is going through. Plus the antibiotics and antiparisitics he has to take seem pretty nasty too.
The journey to Ha Long bay started at the travel centre. We had a nice breakfast before the bus arrived and scoped out the other tourists on the tour. It was an odd group of people that's for sure. There were only 11 people on the tour which included a Malaysian family of 4 (2 little girls and parents), a 70+ years old couple from Australia, and a couple a bit older than us from Switzerland. Our tour guide was named Thou. He was a very cute, and timid Vietnamese guy. He had pretty good english and on the 3.5 hour bus ride to the bay he helped Joey and I with our Vietnamese. We can now say Hi, bye, no thank you, thank you, How much is this?, and That is expensive! It is funny because now when we ask "How much is this?" in Vietnamese, they answer back in Vietnamese, then we look silly because we don't know what they said. At least we're trying! haha.
When we arrived at the bay we quickly got on to our boat and motored away from the busy harbor. There were hundreds of boats that looked just like our boat in the harbour and I'm surprised we didn't run into anything! As soon as we got away from the business we sat on the deck and soaked up the sun rays. The weather was perfect for our adventure. It wasn't too hot or humid. A nice breeze blew along the water and it was actually quite comfortable. We soon reached the limestone islands that dappled the coast line. Big beautiful islands covered in lush forest surrounded us. I can definitely see why they would name this area a UNESCO World Heritage site. Something this beautiful needs to be protected for years and years to come.
Soon it was time for lunch. All 11 of us sat down for what was one of the best feasts I have ever had the opportunity to eat! Seafood galore, veggies, rice, pork, tofu... you name it and it was on the table. The colours and the tastes were really something. Joey and I definitely had our fill! We were almost too stuffed to go kayaking, but obviously thats not something we wanted to miss out on. We rented a kayak and set of with the Swiss couple to a "secret" lagoon. As we arrived at the lagoon you could tell it wasn't so secret because a lot of other kayaks were coming out from the cave entrance to the lagoon. When we got into the "secret lagoon" there was absolutely no one else except the 4 of us. The lagoon was stunning. Beautiful jungle covered the walls of the limestone, and all you could hear was thousands of birds chirping. All of us were silent for about 5 minutes, just taking in the beauty. This lagoon was our secret for that moment. All good things come to an end though... a motor boat made it's way in there.
We found our way to another island and parked our kayaks on the white sand. It was time for a swim after all that kayaking. The water itself wasn't too cold, and wasn't too warm. It still took a while to get all the way in though!
Back on the "junk boat" (That's what they call the boat that we were staying the night on) we got to know all the fellow travelers on the boat. The Aussie couple had been in Vietnam for a couple of weeks and had a lot of feedback to share with the rest of us. They were planning to go to the West Coast of Canada next year and I gave them lots of info on the beautiful place we come from!
Joey quickly made friends with Sacha the Swiss. Soon Joey was teaching him what it truly means to be a Canadian. SHOT GUN! For those of you who don't know what this is, it is when you poke a hole near the bottom of a beer can, put the hole in your mouth and then open the top of the beer can so that beer rushes into your mouth. It's a very classy thing to do on a cruise. The whole boat gathered around to see Joey's moment of glory. Even 3 days later, he's still pretty impressed with himself! Those two also got up to other adventures that night. Tried to climb the ladder attached to the mast, attempted to put the fake sails up (the boat is motorized and has sails for decoration) and also tried to get a taxi over to another boat that was parked in the bay. They also bugged our guide to death to sing them karaoke, but much to their disappointment, he did not cooperate!
The next day we woke up to fog. It was no longer sunny like the day before. The bay had a slight Bermuda Triangle feeling. The boat took us to a HUGE cave on one of the islands nearby. There were three caverns. I think the cave would have been more stunning if there wasn't a paved sidewalk, penguin and dolphin shaped garbage cans, and fake lighting. It was most definitely a tourist attraction. The sheer beauty of the cave had been stripped over the years as stalagmites and stalagtites have been ripped from their homes, and graffiti decorated on the walls. Needless to say, Joey and I weren't all that impressed.
The boat made it's way back to the harbor and we started our journey back to Hanoi. Back to the hustle and bustle. Our time in paradise was short but much appreciated.
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