Halong Bay Part II

Day 68 - 01/08/2010 - 20:34 - Hoi An, Vietnam

So, we've had a few days since my last post. We've seen Halong Bay and come back to Hanoi, leaving the same evening on a pretty uncomfortable journey to Da Nang overnight and then to Hoi An by taxi. It's been a fantastic few days, a complete whirlwind that has led us here. I'll update in two parts - Halong Bay Part 2 and then the trip from Hanoi to Hoi An.

HALONG BAY PART TWO:

They told us the previous night that breakfast was at 7am, which was followed by groans from everyone. Nevertheless, everyone was up on time. The breakfast was actually pretty good. We said goodbye to Ulrike and Arno who left on the boat to go morning kayaking before heading back to Hanoi. We've swapped e-mail address with them both as well as a lot of other people we met so we've got a lot of new friends! Good times!

After they had all left, a bigger boat (with a restaurant on the ground and roof terrace) but still small compared to the Opera came to pick the 9 of us up who had booked the 3 days. There was me, Laura, Saskia and Ike as well as Mark and Hannah, (a Dutch/Swedish couple respectively who live in Sweden!) and 3 Americans - Dan, Leslie who were brother and sister and their mum as well. We all got on very well and had a fantastic day.

We went right round cat ba island, to a floating village which we kayaked around. After which we headed to another part of the bay near there where there was a beach, unaccessable by land. Me, Laura, Mark and Hannah kayaked over whilst Ike and Saskia swam! I got some good photos of the beach otherwise I would have swam too!

We got back to the boat (after riding around it once unsuccessfully not getting anywhere near it!) the current was very strong and had lunch on the boat where there was a lot of seafood, including a very unusal type of shrimp I've never had before - I wasn't that impressed with it - I think I'll stick to prawns! They also bought out some pork skewers and called them "monkey skewers" - they tasted like pork, I hope they were pork, but the Vietnamese staff took great pleasure in joking about it being monkey! Let's put it this way, if it was monkey it was very good... and it tastes a LOT like pork!

After lunch we started to head back to where the Opera is usually moored but stopped first by a cave - more kayaking! We kayaked for quite a distance before getting to the cave. Saskia later put it quite well, the cave itself wasn't that impressive from the outside, not very big and low roofed but it was immense inside - lots of stallitites and bats flying around which was very creepy but very cool at the same time. We passed another group going the other way through the cave who claimed monkeys were around the corner. The others checked it out but me and Laura came back to the boat to have a swim in

the waters around it - unfortunately only being able to jump off the side this time! They didn't see any monkeys either! The right choice I think!

Unfortunately we had to head back from the relative isolation to the boat, despite it being a beautiful and amazing day with absolutely fantastic weather - we applied sun cream 5/6 times but still somehow got burnt as well! When we got back, we went in the water (again) but only from the 2nd floor! We also had all the new people on the boat, which was strange as we'd kind of just got used to those last night. Within 30 minutes of everyone being in the water though, an Australian man was stung by a jellyfish, so everyone rushed out! Kind of signalled the end of the time in the sea! He was treated OK though by such rudimentary tools like vinegar by the staff. The jellyfish didn't bother them, who were jumping in the sea all evening!

We had another excellent dinner, with great company - the 9 of us stuck together for most of the evening, sharing great stories at the dinner table as well as up on top deck afterwards, with only the lights on the boats around us helping us see! Another just out of this world day. It really was like paradise there.

Our final day started at the same time, with the same sort of food for breakfast, although this time Dragon Fruit was on the menu and therefore I had a fair bit - it was melon and watermelon the day before, I care for neither! We had the option to go Kayaking (again) or stay on the Opera which would go for a mini-cruise around Halong bay covering the duration of time the others were kayaking. We missed the boat (literally) with kayaking and therefore were forced to choose the latter (although it's what I would have chosen!) It was all very beautiful as you would expect - I spent most of my time taking pictures from the shade, or running out into the sun only to run back again - my arms and legs particuarly sore from the extreme sun the day before!

The guide on the boat showed us a map on Halong Bay and where we had been yesterday and the day before, in the restauarant. One of the Australians pointed out the window and said "Look, monkeys!" Everyone obviously rushed over to the window he was pointing at, and them him and his family burst out laughing, saying to some Swiss lads "In Australia, we call that taking the piss". I said to him "We do the same in the UK, but not to complete strangers". Without batting an eyelid, he replied "We do!" Haha. Typical Aussies.

On deck we swapped e-mail addresses with everyone - the two couples as well as Dan and Leslie. Unfortunately it was time to leave soon after and we were on the bus back to Hanoi! Sad times. Ike and Saskia didn't go to Hanoi, they were heading to Nimh Binh, so were shipped to the local bus station and the rest of us back to the capital. Just as well they didn't come back, the bus was packed! Even the isle had been taken up with fold down seats (they were installed but no exits at all in case of an emergency!) I was sat next to Dan for a lot of the trip, who was unfortunately enough to be in the isle taking seat. We talked about we were both doing mainly. He works for Google in San Fransisco (where he lives). I think that is the coolest job ever to be honest, and he was telling me all about it which I was obviously very interested in!

We got to Hanoi at around 5pm, and were dropped off at the hotel. On the way through Hanoi's mad streets Laura somehow spotted Andrew, the man on the train from Nanning-Hanoi, in the streets. We opened the window and were shouting to try and get his attention. He eventually spotted us and we had a quick chat whilst still being in the Hanoi traffic. He told Laura "she looked good for it" after Laura had said we were on the way back from Halong Bay. He was right, we really did feel a lot better for a couple of days just recharging the batterys and meeting some nice people along the way. It just also proves how small the world is(or at least all these cities we've visited are!). That's the second time we've bumped into people in the street from the previous place!