Halong Bay boat trip day 1

After waiting 45 mins for the minibus to Halong Bay and starting to cynically suspect the hotel were punishing me for not booking with them by telling me the bus that had pulled up was for someone else, I went round to the agency to find out what was going on. For a few minutes the body language of the guy suggested that I wasn't going to be going, but after a few phone calls he managed to ascertain that the bus was still stuck in traffic because the new driver had got lost. The driver was very evidently new as he surprisingly and refreshingly exercised caution in overtaking and restraint with the horn. He'll learn.

I met up with the Northern Irish girls again at the break stop, they seemed to be prepared for a party and had brought the necessary supplies. With 25 people on their boat and my minibus of 13 seeming extremely quiet, I started to wonder if I was going to be missing out. I may well have done in terms of socialising, but as soon as I was on the boat and we were sailing I knew it was the right choice to have a couple of days of complete relaxation.


I was quite impressed by the quality of the boat, given I'd gone for mid-range. I had a room to myself, romantically decorated with a rose at the end of the bed which seemed to me to be a slight waste anyway in a twin room. The top deck had comfortable loungers and the food was also very good. (See panel right for recommendations)


There are apparently about 500 of these junks in the bay, which means you initially get the impression you are going to be sharing your trip with another few thousand people instead of the 20 (including staff) on the boat. The flotilla makes it's way to some caves first and there's a procession through what are indeed quite splendid formations, lit up quite nicely. A little different from exploring caves on your own as in Laos, with a paved path, penguin litter bins and a guide pointing out the various lion rock, tiger rock, dragon rock etc with a infra-red beam.


However after leaving the island, within a few minutes we were on our own in the bay, each junk seemingly having it's own path through the three-thousand plus islands that are in the bay. You don't meet up with the fleet again until nightfall where, after dropping the hotel people on Cat Ba island, we anchored in an inlet with another 30 or so boats.



In the evening I had a good old natter with an older couple, Graham and Kitty, from Melbourne, who were quite entertaining.