Vietnam - Halong Bay

Up early this morning as we had to pack up all our stuff. We put a change of clothes and swimmers etc in our backpack and left the cases in our room and staff would store them till we came back the next day. Binh, the manager stored the laptop for us as well. We had breakfast at about 8am as we were being picked up by Columbus between 8.30 – 9am. Breakfast was delicious again, we both had omelettes, we were the only ones in there today and the 5 staff couldn’t do enough for us.
Our tour was a bit late to pick us up, but the staff here kept keeping us informed as they had rung the Columbus office, we hadn’t said a word, just sitting there patiently in the foyer , but this wonderful loyal staff were looking after us..........I was being entertained by the cyclo drivers outside. When they see tourist sitting inside hotels, they wait out the front, looking in, beckoning you to come out.........no matter how many times you shake your head and say no....they are persistant. I watched a couple of young back packer girls with very large back packs trying to negotiate a ride, you have to haggle with them,........they were gesturing they wanted to ride in the one cyclo, obviously to save money, the driver was saying “ no too heavy” anyway he took them, he put one backpack in front of him, the two girls squeezed into the seat and he placed the other back pack on top of their feet!!!! And off he started peddling, the poor fella, hope there were no hills.......no wonder they are all skinny!!
Our bus arrived about 9.15am, a 20 seater luxury air conditioned bus. We were last to be picked up so had to take two single seats behind each other. The drive to Halong bay is about 3 hours, driving through mostly rice paddy fields and small towns. It is a heritage listed bay with limestone carst jutting out of the water. We stopped halfway at a large modern building which had food, drinks, toilets and lots of things for sale. Souvenirs, embroidery, paintings, jewellery etc. Back on the bus, everyone had a bit of a sleep. Andy and I had our Ipods, and we were just happy to enjoy the scenery. It was a wild ride, as they like to overtake alot here, drive on the wrong side of the road and honk horns a lot.
Arrived at a large harbour In Halong Bay at about 12.30pm. It was chock full of lots of boats and junks. Carried our bags to a flat bottomed barge type boat which ferried us to our boat the Pinta Gold. Our junk looked very nice compared to all the others, http://columbuscruise.com/ the Pinta Gold had 12 cabins, all with ensuites and airconditioning.
We had our first experience getting from little boat to big boat!! You have to throw your leg over the side of the boat and haul yourself on, not hard unless you are very short! The staff are there assisting everyone. We were greeted with cold towels and a ice cold fruit shake. We sat in the dining area which was all set up for lunch. There were about 8 tables of four set up near the windows. Our guide for the couple of days was great and explained everything we would be doing. We sat with a mother and daughter, they are from Sydney. There were 3 other couples from Australia, a couple from New Zealand, two couple from France and a couple from Canada. Lunch was amazing, they just kept bringing dishes of food out and then a plate of fruit.
Our guide handed out our room keys, we had cabin 201, which was the first one at the front on the lower deck, (there is only two levels) After we checked everything out in the cabin, (noticed the brand new mattress was rock hard......think, throwing a sheet over some concrete).......we donned the sunscreen, hats and camera and went up to the top deck. This deck is gorgeous with single and double sunlounges with white covers and umbrellas. There is little bar in the dining area and all drinks are put on a tab to be paid at the end. Tea, coffee, water and juice was included in our price. We grabbed a beer and settled in, chatting with our fellow guests and admiring the scenery.
At about 3pm we anchored and got back on the little boat (which is towed along beside the big boat) which ferried us to a jetty area, this is the entrance to some caves. It was really hot and humid and we had to walk some steep steps but it was well worth it. There was a large crowd there as all the other junks stop there as well, but our guide looked after us and explained about different parts of the cave. It was a lot more scenic than we had expected and we enjoyed to couple of hours spent there.

Back on the junk we were greeted with cold towels and drinks again, yeah, we could get used to this. Grabbed a beer and went up top again to watch the scenery pass by. It was fantastic weather, blue skies and a light breeze. The water is an amazing deep green and is so still and calm. We anchored at a secluded bay and were told we could jump off and go for a swim, so we changed into swimmers and as we came on deck there was the hugest jelly fish with the longest tentacles we have ever seen, ( about 2 metres long), ok so we were not jumping in.........after the jellyfish had moved away, others jumped in for a swim, funnily it was the Aussies that didn’t go in.
At about 6.30pm everyone went for showers and to freshen up as dinner was at 7pm. Dinner was just as yummy as lunch and every time we thought that was the last dish they would bring more out. We had a couple of glasses of wine, They didn’t have much choice in the drinks department, as it’s a new junk to this company and they are just stocking up. We found 3 bottles of white in the fridge and I think by the end of the night us Aussies girls had emptied them!

After dinner some of us went back up top to lie out under the stars and chat, others gathered at the rear of the junk in cane armchairs and tables. After a few laughs and more wine, we wandered down to bed at about 10pm. Our guide told us that while we were having dinner, he would turn all the air conditioners on, basically they are only turned on to sleep. We noticed ours wasn’t working, so Andy had a fiddle with it and couldn’t get it to go, we didn’t want to bother anyone, so jumped in, well I nearly bruised myself as there was no bounce of movement on this mattress. The cabin was pretty stuffy, we managed to get an airflow out of the air conditioner, but it definatley wasn’t the 16o it said on the remote. I decided to lie on top of the doona to soften the bed up a bit........didn’t really work...tossed and turned and woke every hour, waking and thinking I was lying on concrete somewhere in a hot desert!! We thought of opening the door, but as we were naked, didn’t want to scare anyone that walked past! So we could get dressed and lie there with the door open, or just try to get back to sleep........decided to tough it out, hey we could sleep on the bus home tomorrow!!
Got up at about 5am and decided to go lie up on deck and get some fresh air. A couple of others were up taking photos, so we enjoyed the stillness and serenity. Breakfast was at 7am and consisted of omelette, bacon, toast and fruit and tea and coffee. After discussing our air conditioning problem we found everyone else’s cabins were ice cold except for another couple who complained through the night and were moved to another cabin, damn.......we should practice complaining!!!
At 7.30am, we got onto the little boat which had the kayaks tied up to it. Well this was so funny, we had to put on life jackets and then lower ourselves in to the dual kayaks, I just got my fat bum in the hole..........thought to myself I will worry about getting it out when the time comes! Girls were told to sit up front and guys at the back. Once we were all in, our guide paddled ahead and we all followed, wow, this was amazing, we paddled past floating fishing villages, through cave like caverns and into still, green bays. Apparently we paddled about 5 kms, it took about 1 ½ hours. Andy and I only had one domestic about who wasn’t paddling the right way, who was over paddling and over steering!! A fabulous experience, at one point we stopped paddling for a rest, I said to Andy “OMG, guess what? We are in Vietnam paddling around Halong Bay” We just thought how lucky we were to be here in this amazing part of the world. Ok......now getting back on the junk I knew would be challenging, not only are your legs cramped up after being in the kayak, you have to stand up, get your balance, then try to haul yourself up to the little boat..........ok, I forgot to tell you about the Vietnamese ladies that follow these junks in their little boats trying to sell you stuff, drinks, food, water.......things that I think I don’t want to know what they are that come from the sea. They say “Madam, you like to buy. Madam, you like to buy” so for the last day I had been telling this lady politely “no thank you” She had parked her boat right next to the little boat, obviously experienced, she knows us unfit kayakers come back hot and thirsty. Andy and I were the first back, yes, we finally got into a rhythm at the end.......I was busting for loo!! So......I stood up in the kayak, yeah, got my bum out.......got my balance, then looked up at the boat and thought “how do I get my leg up there?” Andy was up and out, typical male, co ordinated and flexible, the lady in the boat selling stuff was yelling in Vietnamese, pointing, pointing, when I looked down I saw a little ledge......yes!!!, to put my foot on........god luv her she saved me from embarrassment as all the others kayakers had started to queue up. I climbed up, threw a leg over, I had made it, I looked down at her to say thankyou and she said, “ you buy now madam”!!! haha!! Only in Vietnam!!
We were given more cold towels and fresh juice back on board, and went down for a shower and to pack up our stuff. We sat outside, had a cup of tea and we chatted to the two guides. One was hilarious, he loves Aussies and has been practising the accent for years and now speaks with an Aussie slang, but it is mixed with his Vietnamses accent and put together sounds more Cockney!! I just couldn’t get enough of listening to him and his funny stories. He gets his phrase book out and quotes Aussie phrases........and we taught him a few new ones too, but none he could use in public we told him!!!!
We handed our room keys in and a brunch/lunch was served at about 11am while we sailed back to Halong Bay, like we needed more food, but of course we ate it. We boarded our little bus and headed back to Hanoi. Everyone sat in different seats for the trip home.....Andy took a single seat and I sat behind him at the back of the bus with another couple, our guide sat next to me as that was the only seat left. I got my Ipod out and after a while offered it to our guide for a listen, he put one ear phone in his ear and the other in mine so we could share......which was fine until he fell asleep on my shoulder, what is it with the locals falling asleep on us???? Andy thought it was hilarious and payback for me after laughing at him on the plane. After our halfway stop, I told Andy to sit next to me so I could fall asleep on his shoulder!!!!
I had a lovely chat on the way back with a couple, in their late 60’s, they live in Queensland. They are such troopers, it was the first time they have kayaked and they made the climb to the cave. They mixed in with the younger folks and had a ball. They will be in Hue and Hoi an when we are there.

We were first to be dropped at our hotel in Hanoi, most are staying at one of the Hanoi elegance hotels as there are 4, we can see now why they are so popular. We got out into the hustle of our street to be greeted by our gorgeous doorman. We walked inside and all the girls gathered around asking how our trip was........I just love them!!! They gave us our key, they have put us in our old room, which we loved, handed us our laptop, after joking that they had sold it, a minute after we were in our room , our two suitcases they had stored arrived. We feel like we have come home to our little haven. We feel so safe and looked after here, nothing is too much trouble. Turned on the air conditioning and laid on our comfy bed.....oh yeah!!!
I would highly recommend Pinta Gold if coming to Halong Bay, Columbus travel really look after you, the food is fab and the junk is luxurious. We paid $120 USD each which included transfers return to/from Hanoi, all food, tours, guides, and our cruise included tea/coffee, water and juices, not sure if it’s only a promotion though while it is new. We were told by our guide to go to Columbus travel just around the corner here from us in Hanoi for a small refund, as half of the guests on our trip had booked on the their other junk the Pinta and were all upgraded as neither were full, to save taking out two boats. The others had paid $97, so they will reimburse us the difference, wow, how many companies do that?? There are lovely white towels in the bathroom, crisp white sheets, bathroom products including toothbrush, combs, body lotion etc. A truly wonderful experience, but beware the very hard beds!! Ok for one night though! Oh, and our drink bill was 690,000dong = $51AUD.
We only have 2 full days left in Hanoi and so much to see and do! So will make a list of what and where and the restaurants we still want to try. After a little rest in our room, we headed out for dinner about 8.30pm, decided to go to Le Pub for drinks and dinner. It is about 5 minutes walk from our hotel, as we were walking along, we heard “hey, hello” from up on the balcony of Lucky restaurant, it was a couple from the Halong Bay cruise having dinner...........how funny is this town and meeting up with everyone? We ordered Nachos and a pizza and Andy had a Tiger beer. They had $2 specials on all cocktails, so I took advantage of that and had 3 Long Island Ice teas.......very potent!! We sat next to a young couple from England (younger than my kids) he was a Rugby player so Andy had a good chat!
Nachos, pizza, 3 cocktails and 2 very large Tiger beers at Le Pub = 370,000dong = $28AUD. Our cruise friends were still sitting at Lucky;s, they said the drinks were cheap, will have to go there!
Back to our little home and bed as we have a big day planned tomorrow.