The island view

So on a lighter note from the hefty birthday meal we left early in the morning to go on a trip to what lonely planet makes out to be paradise, Halong Bay. We were picked up by the bus right in front of our hotel door, and once the bus was done fighting its way through the scooter filled streets we were on our 4 hour way to the notorious islands. The group in the bus was diverse ranging from young to old and from one day trips to our 3 day 2 night cruise. It turned out that halong bay, as we kinda guessed is far from an exclusive get away, but it was beautiful. Wer realised the lack of exclusivity when we initially arrived at the harbour and there were literally thousands of tourists coming out of a mess of tour busses and coaches. We were assigned a spot and kindly requested to wait while our enfglish speaking guide went and got the tickets and whatever else he needed. So the group started to mingle a bit.

Moments later we were regrouped and headed for the boat. Sadly the sky was grey, solid grey. The trip started with a lunch and then the engines roared up and got us on our way out of the portg and towards the "majestic" cave.

Well.... the cave.... It was big, but when they light a cave up like a casino, place plaster walkways that are meant to look natural and authentic and put fountains in strategic places, I get somewhat skeptical. This and the fact that we had to walk in a continual line of a few hundred people. It was like being in disney world. We all had an excellent laugh though, especially when we realised most people took the fountains as natural springs! We were sure that within two years you will be welcomed into the cave with the roaring start of eye of the tiger and there will smoke machines and lazers lighting the vast spaces overhead. Thankfully that was the lowest point of the trip and it got progressively better.

From the cave we headed to cat ba island to drop of the 2 day one night folk and the day trippers and we were left with the awesome group that spent the night on the boat.

The boat group

The evening was grande and was filled with some good food the remainder of the bottle of birthday Jameson and star filled skies. At the crack of dawn the kayaks were made ready and it was off to an excellent start! having some difficulty lifting the crew out of bed I decided to watch the sunset solo and go out on the kayak. An amazing morning. The others got up soon afterwards and as you can see have excellent team synnergy. Nora and Iaki are unstoppable!

kayaking in the morning

kayaking in the morning, look at that flawless synnergy

After the scrumptious breakfast of bread, jam and egg we headed for the main island in the archipelago, Cat ba island. Upon arrival we were coaxed into a minivan and scooter to the town. But before we could get to lunch or anything else for that matter, the van stopped and we were to start the hike. The walk was cool, and took us up to one of the high peaks overlooking the whole island. A definite good view point. Below is the victorious shot of the peak...

Iaki and Nora on the victory climb atop cat ba peak

Then down and after another drive in the minivan we were shown to the Cat Ba harbour Inn hotel, give n our keys and shown to our onsuite 3rd level rooms! Great times. A 2 star lunch and then the afternoon off to enjoy the town. I cought up on some writing, Iaki on a scooter ride, Nora on a bike ride and Daniel had his first scooter lesson. An overall good afternoon!

Iaki in his pink helmet looking as hardcore as he can

The sunset was spectacular, and since most people live on their boats and require water taxis the harbour is a non stop hub of activity. A really cool town.

The harbour port

Motion on the water

water taxi

After a grande sleep, it was time once again to cram into the taxi and head back to the boat.

The island view

Daniel on our floating cruizer

Iaki the pro

This time with a new posse we headed for the small fishing village and were shown some caves... once again for a small forced "contribution" but hey, all is fair. This is where i saw my first concrete boat, yes concrete with a brick house on it. Bizarre is the word that came to mind! After a chilled cruise back to halong harbour we were treated to a great lunch and then it was back on the bus to the overpopulated but strangely realxing city of Hanoi where I am now.

written by  ourindochina on January 7, 2008 from Cat Ba, Vietnam
from the travel blog: The Indo China Adventure (incl Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia)
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looking forward to every blog entry - and by the way - happy birthday pete! sounded like a cool one. when are we seeing some of iak's photos to prove that the cap bought on e-bay was really £10 worth?

written by  walter on January 7, 2008

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