A much more civilised boat trip :)

After a 12 hour overnight train journey we could be forgiven for being a wee bit tired, but we woke up in fine spirits and packed up our belongings, ready for another little boat trip.  After the previous one, it would be fair to say that we were not hanging our hopes on much of an experience, even if the destination is one of the most beautiful places on the planet (big call I know, but it is true).

The train pulled into Hanoi and as it slowed we took the time to watch the common man (and woman) go about their morning business....which seemed to consist of eating breakfast at food stalls and cafes along the road.  They are an industrious and early rising lot these Vietnamese to be sure.  Our hotel awaited and thankfully Julia is German, so we'd prepared ourselves and were already packed and ready to go.  So we avoided the scramble in the lobby to re-pack bags and snuck off to breakfast and what luxury it was to sit down to a fried egg after that journey.

There was another bus transfer (not inconsiderable at a good 2 hours) to the boat terminal then we boarded........oh this was different.  MUCH different.  For a start it had multiple decks, cabins with beds and a fully functional bar and kitchen.  Unfortunately the sun lounging deck was utterly redundant, because the weather had closed in and it was a misty day when we pushed out to sea.









The seas were gently rolling and kind to the stomach and we all settled into our cabins with an inaudible, but tangible, sigh of delight.  I was certainly smiling from ear to ear.  Being on the sea just flicks a switch in my brain, turning me into a very chilled out and happy man.  Nothing was too much bother, every glance out the window a joy.

Soon we could see the islands in the distance and good grief they are beautiful.  I've tried my best to limit the use of that word in this post and to ration the number of exclamation marks and general expressions of wonder and happiness.  However it's really very difficult to do all that and convey how happy we were over the next 24 hours.

As we pulled into our anchor, Chi told us we'd be off to see some caves.  A cave is a weird thing.  Most of us think of a small dark hole in a cliff; somewhere neanderthal man would light the first fire, burn meat and then daub walls with amateur graffiti.  These however are different.  When you consider that the islands themselves are nothing more than a series of rocks forced out of the ground thousands (millions?) of years ago during geological upheavals and therefore they are actually quite small, the sheer size of the cave we visited was impressive.

Less impressive were the nods to health and safety (concrete lined walls and ceilings), garishly green lights in weird corners of the cave or the attempt to "keep Halong tidy" with the use of penguin/dolphin shaped dustbins every 15m or so along the past.

Selling beers, Smokin' a Fag!

Truth be told, we moved fairly quickly through the cave.  With good reason....there was some sea kayaking to be had and I was excited to be on the waves.  Having annoyed Julia with my initial vacillation on whether or not to get in a sea kayak (due to my injuries), I was now really looking forward to paddling the bay with my wife.  Surely this a perfect example of why we had taken this trip, to experience the shared joy of paddling a sea kayak between the islands of Halong Bay?

Julie and Dave on the Kayaks

Sailor Julia Saroian reading on deck

View from our cabin

It was indeed a great experience, capped for me by the sight of a troop of monkeys playing and cavorting on the shore of one island, jumping from tree to tree, rock to rock.  Afterwards we climbed back on board and went to the bar then upstairs, cocktails and Kindles in hand, to read and relax before dinner.

Dinner was a sight to behold!  Wow!  The chef was clearly a very accomplished man, with garnishes that can only be described as sexy and a presentation and taste palette that was flawless.  Actually I am sure there are many other words to describe the presentation, but frankly, south east asian food isn't long on presentation, other than the odd root vegetable pretending to be a flower, so the galley's efforts that night were certainly appreciated.

With great food, flowing drink and a comfortably satisfied group that had grown together and formed many small and interesting bonds that interwove nicely, the atmosphere in the large dining cabin was great.  Cards were played, jokes and tales were told, memories were recounted of the 550 odd km we had cycled.  Chi seemed relaxed and pretty early on we retired to our beds, supremely content and ready for the wind-down, the end of our trip tomorrow.