What a thrill is Halong Bay. About a 3 hour drive from Hanoi, which is a bit of a drag, but once the confusion of getting all passengers aboard their allocated junk has passed it is a wonderful experience. There is a multitude of boats to choose from, actually too many as it turns out, but I chose mine based on the fact they offered a chance to go squid fishing at night that I knew would make Max happy. I steered well clear of the fun filled activity boats for children or the disco by the bay options and decided for a lovely junk by the name of Indochina Sails 2. I loved the pictures on the website, the warmth and feeling of sturdiness that the oiled, dark wood planks conveyed so I was a bit miffed when the dark wood boat turned out to be white. And not only mine but all the boats in the bay. Raising an eyebrow in barely hidden disappointment I later found out that a Government official had ordered all the beautiful dark wood to be painted white, reason being, so it seems, that by painting it white they would look more like the cruise ships that adorn the Mediterranean or the Caribbean hence enticing the likes of the Titanic to cross these waters. My eyebrow rose even more in total disbelief to a level where I looked permanently botoxed while I surveyed the poorly painted junk, already showing signs of wear only 2 weeks after the brush had been hung up to dry.
The fact the infrastructure, a real port for example, and the ever so minimal detail of a shallow beach....ahemm...(remember the Costa Concordia?) make it impossible for the massive ship liners to even dream of approaching the bay clearly did not cross the Government official's mind but then... when it comes to Government officials ......
Anyhow, once settled in our beautiful cabin we are immediately summoned to lunch during which our tour guide starts listing the activities of the day.
Activities?
My idea was to lay on the upper deck and enjoy the panorama but I barely burp my last garlic prawn that I am tossed head first into a kayak and start paddling furiously.
A couple of metres from the boat I realize everybody is actually going their own way, the Brazilian ladies heading out to open sea, the American lads running in circles, a British couple doing their best to bump into us at every chance.
I stop paddling and start mumbling curses! Then the guide appears and shouts at the strays pointing in one direction and the straddlers are meekly brought back to heel and we all head towards a cavern in the mountain. The closer we get the more we realise it is not a cavern but an opening that will take us to a hidden lake. Once inside it is wonderful to look at the limestone peaks and greenery and we stare in awe at the beauty of it. Then a rapid flutter of electric blue and a kingfisher darts in front of us clearly worried about the rapidly falling level of fish stocks in the world hence in a hurry to get hold of the last fish. He is beautiful and incredibly fast, a real treat.
Alas, it is time to head back to the ship and to my horror I realize the fact all the ships are white and most of the time nameless presents a bit of an issue. Finally by a process of elimination (our does not have palms on the deck, ours has a staircase coming down the side etc) we manage to board the right one and all is good
No comments:
Post a Comment