I sat in front of the pc in the reception of Little Hanoi Hotel when a guy tapped my shoulder. The minibus had arrived. I dragged my bags onto the bus. Charlotte and Jeanette from Denmark were already on board. They were only going for a day tour. They had been through South East Asia in 3 weeks. So one day here, one day there. I don't like rushing things, so to me, it sounded like just stress. But every man, or woman in this case, has their ideas.
After driving through the city to pick up all the passengers, we finally headed for Halong City. If you ever see any brochures or tv-ads for Halong, you are bound to see lush lagoons, beautiful islands and islets. And a single junk anchored in the bay. This is NOT (as if anyone believed that) how it is. When we arrived, we were rushed to a big place along with hundreds of others. Outside there were dozens of junks rushing to and fro to pick up or dump off passengers. The touristy feel started long before we arrived in Halong City. We had a "rest stop" at a place that was jammed to bursting with others on the same way. And lots and lots of people selling souvenirs, ice cream and food at inflated prices (an ice cream cone cost the same as in Norway...).
On our boat was Joey and David from Canada, Orly and Annat from Israel and a dutch family. Our captain navigated our boat through what can best be described as rush-hour on the sea. Dozens of junks were moving to and fro and made the harbour a nightmare. But after half an hour, we were free of the grasp of the harbour, and could enjoy the scenery. First stop was the "Amazing Cave". This is a drip-stone cave high up on the side of one of the island walls. I think the enclosed image should speak for itself.
After the cave, we were taken to a secluded beach where we could swim for a couple of hours while our boat picked up some more passengers. We joked about the boat leaving us there. But we really didn't care. The beach and its surroundings were astounding to say the least. And we were the only ones there. The only downside was that the water temperature was a bit high. So it wasn't as refreshing as we'd hoped in the warm sun. One has to complain about something, right?
The boat did come back, and took us to the place where we were to stay overnight. As the sun was setting, we used the boat as a diving platform and jumped off into the sea. Joey wanted David to take series shots of him as he jumped from the top deck. But after five attempts, and a lot of laughs from all of us, he ended up with nothing more than a blurry image of himself before he splashed into the water. We ended the evening with talking and card playing in the silence of the night in the bay.
7.45 the next morning, we had to get up to eat breakfast, before heading to another boat that would take us cayaking and cycling. We were taken across some open sea to a small set of islands were there also were some towns on the sea. These are small villages made up of house-boats. The people living there live off whatever the sea has to offer, and of course, tourism. We landed on what looked like a fish-farm. They had fish in one tank, squids in another. And on the small platform, they even had fitted four dogs. We joked about them being snacks... In the back, they had tied up a number of cayaks.
We were divided into two and two who shared one cayak. Most had paddled a cayak before, so it didn't take long before we were heading for a "hidden" lagoon through a natural tunnel created by the waves. Passing through the natural tunnel was amazing, and the lagoon on the other side was beautiful. The only downside to the whole experience was the amount of trash in the water we paddled through. Plastic bags, shoes, food and even "floaters". It reminded us all what overtaxing a tourist spot may do to the environment.
After we came back, we were taken to another island where we were given a bike each. In the soaring temperatures, I was a bit skeptical. But not being outdone by the others, I grabbed a bike that looked like i would crumble any time soon, and headed off. We passed through beautiful landscapes before we ended up in a small village beside a small jungle.
After some resting and refreshing, we had the option of either going back to swim, or a small jungle trek. A vote ended in a jungle trek. We saw a big yellow black butterfly and a giant spider and lots of trees.
The last day was just a transport day. From Cat Ba island to Halong City and then to Ha Noi.
Same as before, we stopped at the "rest stop" to drop off any excess dongs. Back in Ha Noi, we were dropped off at our respective hotels. I found another hotel this time. A $12 hotel in the same street as the previous one. When I entered, a young girl greeted me in vietnamese, and with a smile as big as her face. She called for someone. Her mom appeared. "Do you have a room?" I asked. She called for someone else. That someone appeared to be her husband. He spoke english. And had the most dreadful combover I had ever seen. They had a room at the very top of the building. With aircon. And TV. "Both CNN and BBC" he said, proudly. "Whatever." I said and began the long ardious walk up the VERY narrow staircase, trailing his daughter. Ever smiling and laughing at the panting man behind her.
I slept like a baby.
Ragnar
Aka "Raggie"
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