Halong Bay 1

Asia Trip fall 2019

Sept 30, 2019

Think I’ve over slept when it was actually 6:45... chatted with Latrice until 8:15...then racing to get ready for our 9am pickup.

Made it out front in time but no time for breakfast. Latrice got some cash and then the bus was there.

We were some of the first to get on board so we had a good seats. The next hour was spent picking up people then we headed out to the coast.

Hundreds if not thousands of new social housing projects. They looked extremely nice but very tall and large buildings with small cubes for space. Honestly I’d be happy with one of those.

We crossed many areas of low lands, tidal plains, that looked to be at low tide

There weren’t many villages on the way. There was one off to the west that look to have a very modern, large, mall or shopping center.

It was a two hour journey to reach the coast and we were let out and broken into two groups as we were going on different boats. We waited in a covered area of the marina while the boat was on its way

Shortly we got on the boat for a 15 minute ride to our cruising accommodations. The boat looked quite nice and immediate expectations were met with big smiles.

We boarded and went to the second floor dining space for an orientation and lunch. It was very hard to understand much about this being said but we got the general idea of the itinerary which was handed to us later in writing.

Lunch consisted of some potato soup, mango salad, and some sticky rice tofu and some french fries. I obviously did not eat the tofu… Yuck.

We found our room and checked in. The room was not a spacious as the one pictured online but it was quite nice and the air conditioner works very well. The view out of the window was spectacular with a balcony right outside. We would have a commanding view of whatever lay off the starboard side.

The first part of the bay was murky water and islands that really didn’t have a wow factor. An hour or two later, this had changed. The karst formations became more dramatic, taller, whiter stone, and dramatic elements.

We cruised a long into our stopping point and about 320. It was time to head to the back of the ship, onto our taxi boat to the kayak marina. Latrice was a bit concerned but became sure footed very quickly.

We paddled out to some of the smaller karst formations while giving us a sweeping view of the surrounding larger formations. The view was incredible, like I had imagined. I was transported. It was such a special thing, to share this experience.

While we were paddling back, we heard the sound of opera singing. The closer we got to the marina, the clearer we could make out that it was a real person and it was coming from a boat near the distant large karst formation. What an amazing performer- an unexpected treat.

We return to the ship after. Some were allowed to jump off the back of the boat into the water and enjoy some swimming time. LaTrice and I went to her room for a rest. We opened up the curtains and had an amazing view of the surrounding formations. We couldn’t have asked for a better view from our room.

Eventually we had to get ready as dinner who is being served. At the last minute LaTrice ordered they happy hour buy two get one free. She got to Mojito‘s and a glass of wine. I have one of the Matos… Pretty good

For dinner I had some noodles and broth with some mushrooms, I believe. There were some sticky rice… Was pretty good also The vegetables were mixed in with tofu so I passed on those. It was enough as I wasn’t very hungry. My foot was hurting and extremely extremely swollen. So I was a bit yucky feeling.

After dinner we set chatting with some people from Hong Kong and some from Melbourne and in the background eventually the karaoke started. It was quite funny experiencing some of the Vietnamese favorites as karaoke. It wouldn’t point one of the Asian singers was doing her version of don’t cry for me Argentina. LaTrice had to join in and what an amazing performance that was by the two of them. As a follow up LaTrice continued on our performing Happy along with several other and many more joined in dancing to the happy song. We had great conversation about work ( the Aussie guy was an electrician ). We had of course political discussion as well, always an interesting topic out in the world.

My foot was sore and I need to take it off of her so I returned to the room and LaTrice continued on enjoying the evening. I’m so glad she’s having fun.