Day 24 Halong Bay, Vietnam

Day 24 – His.

 Today is Halong Bay – a world heritage site and one of the new seven wonders of the world. Though I do get the feeling that it is one of the new seven wonders because the Asians have rejigged it that way. The coach ride to the bay from Hanoi is four hours – well three and a half hours and a half hour break in between for us to stretch our legs wonder around a pottery and have the chance to buy some tourist bits and pieces. I was going to say I would have been tempted to buy something if it weren’t for the fact that we were going to be travelling for ages yet and anything we bought would be battered to smithereens, but the truth is I was just not tempted to buy anything. So far the trip around Vietnam has seemed more like a trip round Egypt. Not so much in the sights, scenery and the atmosphere but more in the general set up they have for tourists, which kind of surprises me. I would never have thought of Vietnam as being a tourist trap country but apparently it is. I can only guess that a lot of antipodeans come here. It’s a bit hard to gauge as we are not here in the high season. That is both a good and bad thing. Good because the crowds are at their lowest and bad because we are ducking and diving between successive typhoons in order to see anything. So far we have been lucky and the seas around Halong bay were like a mill pond when we arrived.

 The boat was a junk of sorts but really clean and pleasant. We motored out of the Harbour and had lunch as we leisurely chugged our way to the islands. Halong bay is a collection of some 1,900 – ish little islands made from limestone that jut incongruously from the green ocean. The water is shallow here and the islands dump a ton of minerals into the sea so it is green and relatively life less. The islands crowd in on each other and the tourist boats wend their way along the same track in a line. My guess is it is some kind of conservation effort – but we all visit the same islands and go to the same caves and end up on the same beach. In high season this would be dreadful but in low season it is well worth it. The sea was calm and hot, the islands magical and beautiful and the caves cold and mysterious.

 There is something truly magical and romantic about having lunch and dinner in this atmosphere, gently floating along in the hazy day and stopping off to visit the only beach – which is man-made by the way – and swimming in clear seas that have the temperature of a warm bath. After doing all of that we retired to the upper deck of our boat and watched the stars for a while as we chatted the evening away with the guys in our group and then went to bed. One of our group wants to stay on the boat for the rest of the trip and seriously asked our guide if it were possible. He just laughed so i guess not.

Day 24 – Hers

Halong Bay was one the main reasons I chose this section of the trip – and it didn’t disappoint .  I would have loved to have longer cruising around the karst islands and floating villages, perhaps kayaking through some of the caves, looking for monkeys – but that is one of the problems with group tours. You can’t just decide to stay somewhere that takes your fancy – you must keep moving on to wherever is next on the itinerary. 

On the bus journey, Vinh – our guide – taught us a few words of Vietnamese and explained some of the cultural differences.  There are 6 million people in Hanoi – and 4 million motorbikes.  Motorbikes are manufactured in Vietnam and a decent one can be purchased for about $400.  Cars are not manufactured in Vietnam, have difficulty negotiating any but the widest roads and cost around $60,000. If I lived in Vietnam, I would no doubt join the swarm....

Vietnamese houses tend to be very tall and thin.  Property fronting the road can be used as commercial premises and is much more expensive so plots are thin but deep – and up to four generations live together so they just add another floor (another similarity with Egypt...).