Day 6: Ha Long Bay, Surprising Cave, Kayaking, and Monkeys

I was sort of looking forward to hearing that weird squeaky space music again when we arrived back in Hanoi, but instead there was just a lady yelling in Vietnamese outside of our door.  I guess we were back in town!  I looked at my phone and it was 4:30am.  uunnggg.  The train stopped shortly and we all plodded off the train into the morning darkness.

Asier and Rachelle were planning on heading back to their hotel next door to Vega Travel and we needed to go back that way because our Ha Long tour was departing at 8am so after some taxi fare negotiations with the local cab companies we got a cab back to Hang Bac street for $4 split 6 ways (negotiations started at $17).

The taxi dropped us off outside the travel agency and hotel.  It was dark out except for the sparse orange street lights illuminating the road.  Vega Travel had a gate covering their usual glass door and the hotel had 2 staff members sleeping inside on the floor.  It was close to 5am by now.  We stood around for a while waiting for things to open but that seemed to drag on forever.  A lady with a basket of pastries tried to sell us some of her goods but we declined.  She even stuffed a donut right onto Sebastian's nose so he could "smell how good it was" but after he repeatedly refused, she put it back into her basket.  Now I know for sure I don't want to ever eat from one of those ladies :P

Waiting outside the travel agency

Asier and Rachelle's hotel opened around 6am so they headed inside and we said goodbye with the thought that maybe we would meet again in Ha Long bay because they were going the day after us.  Later on in the day I would regret not getting their contact information because I wanted to share some of my photos and keep in touch with them and I was certain that we most likely would not see each other again.  doh!

With nothing to do we thought we'd start walking around the area as it seemed that some shops were starting to open up.  A block away a Pho place was just opening and one of the owners was cutting cilantro and limes on a table on the road in front of the restaurant.  The place even had full sized chairs inside so that was the deciding factor for us to head inside.

When we sat down she asked us what we wanted.  There was no menu so we asked what they had.  She said "Beef Pho."  We waited for more options but that's all she said.  So then Sebastian said "ok, I'll have 1 beef pho please."  The shop owner replied asking, "1 Beef Pho?"  almost as if there was something else to choose from.  Sebastian said, "umm... that's all you have right?  No chicken?"  she replied, "No. only beef Pho."  "Oh," Sebastian said laughing in disbelief and looking at us for help.  "Yes the beef pho please."  lol once she was gone we burst into laughter!  We all ended up ordering the beef pho and I have to say that it did hit the spot!  It was my first real street vietnamese pho and I had accomplished another one of my goals of the trip.  The pho in Vietnam doesn't come with the big plate of bean sprouts and basil but they did come with a bowl of freshly cut lime's and they really made the soup taste great!

By this time it was probably 7am so we headed back to Vega Travel to see if they were open.  Yes!  They were.  We went inside and dropped off our big bags in their storage room upstairs.  We had another laugh showing the broken sink to Sebastian and then it was time to go.  I shared my contact info with Sebastian so he could read this blog on his travels for the next 6 months.  We wished him good luck, got one last group photo and then said goodbye.  We were off to Ha Long Bay!

The bus trip was a long 3 hour trip with a stop in the middle at a souvenir shop.  Along some of the trip our new tour guide, Dang, introduced us to more Vietnamese cultural fun facts and we got to know our new tour mates.  We had a retired couple from South Surrey (close to my house), two german women, a kiwi turned aussi couple in their 40's, a Singaporean family with 1 kid (my age) and us.

The start of the drive out of Hanoi was a bit dark, muggy, and hazy but when we arrived at Ha Long Bay, a lot of the haze had lifted and there was actually a big blue sky above our heads!  The sun was shining bright and it must have been in the high 20's.  I couldn't believe it was December and I was still living in summer temperatures.

We disembarked from the bus and walked down the steps of the wharf into a smaller boat that would take us from the shore to our boat that was moored somewhere in the harbour.  The harbour was filled with hundreds of tourist junkets.  I didn't really expect to see it look like this but there were just boats literally everywhere and they all looked pretty much the same.  Ha Long Bay tourism hasn't been around all that long and I can't imagine what it will look like in 10-15 years time.  Dang told us there is currently a 500 boat limit and there are 500 boats right now in the Bay.

After a very short ride we made it to our Junket!  It looked great and I couldn't wait to board.

We climbed up and into the boat and upstairs into the main dining hall where we were given hot towels for our hands and our room keys.  We drank some tea and Dang explained our itinerary for the day.  The boat started leaving the harbour and we had half an hour or so to familiarize ourself with the boat and our rooms.

Soon enough lunch was served.  Some fresh vegetables, fish cake, tofu, shrimp, and stir frys were served up, everything tasted great but the best thing was looking out the window as we started to pass through some gigantic limestone island rock formations.  It was stunning!  I quickly gobbled my meal and left the table to the front of the bow to take some pictures.  I'd seen pictures and was told not to have too high expectations but my expectations were exceeded.  The rocks looked magnificent and the water was a cool blue green.  The sun was beating down but the breeze kept everyone cool.  Most of us made our way to the upper deck and I layed on the reclining chair sunbathing and enjoying the beautiful view.  We passed fishermen in their little bamboo boats and several floating villages.  It was everything I had hoped it would be and the tour had only just begun!

The view while eating lunch

After maybe an hour of cruising we started making our way to Surprising Cave, a large limestone cave discovered by some French explorers.

We pulled into a little lagoon that had many other boats in it.  It really felt like we were in Pirates of the Caribbean or in some sort of Hollywood movie set with the big limestone cliffs around us covered in lush jungle vegetation and a big cave opening up on one of the rocks with traditional junket boats surrounding us.

We jumped off the bow of the boat onto the wharf and made our way up the steps into the first cave chamber.  It was of good size and there were giant stalactites and stalagmites.  The cave had been retrofitted with a path and lights to illuminate the inside to make it easier to see.

After Dang gave us a backstory of the cave we headed into the second chamber.  This one was much larger than the first!  Bigger ceilings and just a bigger volume of space in general.  Very cool.

Next was the main chamber and this one was massive!  I'm not really sure how deep into the rocks it went but it was probably a good 200 meters.  We continued along the path to the back of the cave, and then it looped back towards the big opening up in the middle of the cliff.  There were plenty of tourists but it didn't feel too crowded.  Though I can't imagine coming here in high tourist season!

We made our way up to the lookout and had a beautiful look down at the bay with all the ships harboured.  It looked really neat and this time I felt like I was in Disneyland, only that the rocks weren't made of paper-maché and everything was real.  Back to the boat!

Looks like a guy's feet

We cruised further and the boat parked in a small area protected by limestone islands on most of the sides.  Another smaller boat pulled up with kayaks trailing behind it.  They were all two men kayaks so Rob and Iwao shared one, and I teamed up with the Singaporean guy.  He was really friendly and spoke fluent English so we got along very well.

(pictures to come once rob sends me them from his waterproof camera)

Once in our kayaks, Dang had us all paddle towards a tunnel in the rocks.  Being out on the water with the kayak was quite fun and even though we were heading somewhere specific, it felt like we had a lot of freedom.

We paddled through the tunnel and found ourselves inside of a lagoon type area.  Think of an island in the shape of a donut, and we had paddled through a small tunnel in the side of the donut and were now inside.  We were told this is part of the Cat Ba National Park and that this was Monkey Island!

We noticed a few kayakers on the opposite side from the tunnel so we paddled our way over there and to our luck there were a whole bunch of little monkeys running around!  Dang said we were lucky because they're not always around.  We paddled close to shore and the little monkeys (some of which were babies) were running and jumping around on the rocks close to us.  Above us was a massive sheer cliff face and once in a while you would see a little monkey slowly making his way across.  The monkeys looked like little insane rock climbers with their limbs all spread out and testing and searching for different hand holds as they made their way across the cliff.  Two monkeys even ended up jumping straight down the cliff face into a small tree that caught them.  I thought it must be such a rush for them.  Or maybe it's boring everyday life.  who knows :P

After gawking at the monkeys for a while we headed back out through the tunnel and paddled around some large rock formations.  I loved this part of the trip and the scenery was stunning.  I wished my dad was with me because I know he would have loved this.  Perhaps him and I can come to Vietnam sometime and I can introduce him to these amazing places I've had the privlege to see.

After kayaking we headed back to the boat and shortly it was time for diner!  There was a fancy shrimp cocktail, amazing spring rolls (one of the bets I've ever had), beef with pineapple, roasted fish, beef skewers, and Hanoi Beer.  Everything was delicious.

There were no plans after diner so I made my way outside.  The sun had set 30 minutes prior so I snapped some photos as it started to get dark.  Iwao hit the hay early and Rob and I stayed on the upper deck to chat with some of the other people on the tour.  It had been a fantastic day and I couldn't wait for tomorrow.