HaLong Bay… And karaoke…

We finally got our passports back with a fresh new visa extension in, good until the 7th of October, so the first thing we did when we got them back was pop out and book some tickets for a 3 day 2night HaLong bay tour aboard the Phoenix Cruiser…
8:30 we were picked up from our hotel in a wicked little shuttle bus but just before it arrived, during check out I yet again left our card in an ATM, luckily it was inside the hotel, and the staff helped me call the bank that owns it to get them to open it up and get our card back… At least for the next three days everything had been paid for so if we can’t get it back we wont starve.
The bus ride from Hanoi to HaLong was about 4 hours and flew by in no time, as we got nearer to HaLong bay we caught glimpses of the mysterious rocky islands all misty and the first thing that struck us was how many there were and the sheer scale of it all.
Our bus emptied out into a small landing boat in the port amongst all the other tourist junk’s and fishing boats, an then we were away. Chugging out across HaLong bay was just amazing and we hadn’t even arrived at our junk yet.
It was a short ride to our boat maybe 10 minutes and from down on our little landing craft it looked like the nicest boat we had seen! At the office where we booked our tickets there was a little to do about which boat to go on, naturally Georgie wanted to live it up on a 5 star junk with all the trimmings and a fair bit more expensive than the 3 star “Deluxe” no less than I fancied. So as we approached the Pheonix cruiser I was pretty chuffed with myself, we got aboard and all sat down in the large dining area on the second floor while our tour guide talked us through what we were going to be getting up to during our stay than handed out the room keys so we could check into our cabins.
At this point Georgie was already putting the parts on because it wasn’t quite up to the luxury she requires and the average age of the other people on the cruise was probably a little over 50, but determined to convince Georgie we had saved money in the right place I was laying it all on the cabins… As soon as we walked in she was not impressed, don’t get me wrong we have stayed in much worse rooms and even smaller rooms bur she was definitely expecting more for the money. It was actually really nice, obviously not up to 5 star standards but I was really happy with it and Georgie soon came around. Its a pretty basic room but nice and clean, a little pokey but we were expecting that. The dining room however was nice and airy with all sides full of windows and the amazing HaLong bay just outside, we had to be back in the dining room for a spot of lunch while it chugged out amongst the little mountains to where it would drop anchor and spend the night. While we were waiting for the food to be brought out we took some air on the top sun deck which was something special, longers all about the place and un-interrupted views for miles across the misty bay.
The food on board was also something special, I think we had 5 courses of all sorts of really good sea food and Vietnamese food. With barely any time to let the food settle we were getting changed into our swim gear ready for a trip to a cave called surprise cave and an hours kayaking in amongst the karsts.
The smaller landing boat came back to pick us up and take us along to the cave and whilst heading over to it we spotted our first jellyfish, and fuck me was it big, at least the size of a large dinner plate and a foot long just bobbing about, apparently though the large ones are harmless its the small ones with long trailing tentacles that are nasty. Regardless they didn’t look too welcoming and the worst thing was that were lots of them bobbing about, but the water is really clear and you can see them a mile off which is at least a little bit reassuring.
Surprise cave was just that, a surprise, we walked up probably a hundred steps on the side of one of the big karsts until we reached a small cave entrance which in itself was a bit shit but the view from it was pretty lush. That cave led off down a very narrow passage to another cave which was where the surprise comes in, it was huge! It was all lit up with colourful lights running right through it which added a bit of flair to it all and after the stairs it was nice and cool, our guide pointed out all the different things inside then we moved onto the third cave which was bigger and much more impressive, it was also alot higher than the others and we spent a while wandering around it with our group before making the climb back down to the pier where our little boat was waiting.We hopped across to a nearby floating village where all the kayak’s are kept and after a little pep talk we were away across the eerily calm green water and around the bay getting up close to the karsts and even through a low bat filled cave that opens up to a stunning tidal lagoon completely surrounded by massive limestone cliffs all around with huge birds of prey swooping down on the water, everywhere we looked it was a postcard worthy scene. After an hour paddling about we were back on the little boat headed for the Pheonix cruiser for the evening, we were met with a complimentary fruit salad and a glass of wine to help wash down the pretty amazing sunset that was happening…
Shortly after the sun was down we were ushered into the dining room for a 5 course dinner of yet more super duper sea food, then a little time to unwind under the stars on the top deck… Oh yes. Then like a jellyfish all silent and without warning out of the blue it came… With a sting so mighty it can never be mistaken… Karaoke… But by this point Georgie and I had polished off most of a bottle of smuggled HaNoi vodka and were pretty squiffy, the sheer enthusiasm of the crew and a lone Romanian family going at it like there was no tomorrow on some of the cheesiest pop ever lured Georgie in, hook line and sinker… And I wasn’t far behind unfortunately. After what seemed like forever the crew managed to wrestle the mic off Georgie and exactly 10 minutes later she had passed out… Just a little too much boogie, or vodka…

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