AT

08/10/11

Nothing worse than an early bus ride in the rain to Halong Bay. It's 3 hours on some of the worst roads in the world, and our bus seems to be mounted on two pogo sticks so writing is almost impossible, at best I'm correcting more words than I write. As we move further away from Hanoi the weather has improved slightly, it's still very grey but the rain is only appearing in showers and I'm more encouraged by the dry roads.

I'm told that our junk will be the Paloma and it was build in 2009, so unless we hit an island, there is no real risk of it sinking, so let's hope they have better captains than they do drivers!

On arrival at the dock we are herded into a small boat which will take us to the Junk, the weather is still overcast, but the temperature has risen a little which is another good sign that the storm is passing. The small boat moars alongside an impressive looking wooden junk, the Paloma. She has 4 decks in total, the lower two are accommodation, the third is the eating area and then finally the top deck which is also the sun deck. We had a double bed in our room, which was a king size plus a bit more with lamps either side and air con facing the bed. Open the sliding doors and you find an impressive looking shower with two types of shower head and a clean and tidy toilet ( the leg room is a bit on the tight side). There is a safe which can only be opened by the key on your room keyring, so best not lose that, and a nice bowl of fruit with free water ( this was the only free drinks onboard). No sooner had we found our rooms, we were under way and told we had to be in the meeting area in no more than 20 mins so we could be told the itinerary ( I have to admit I find it very irritating to be told when I can do things) lunch would be served shortly then it was off to the fishing village to have a look around. Since I was being told when to eat I wasn't that hungry, much to the confusion of the crew and to the rest of the table. The food however looked fantastic and soon disappeared from people's plates, I picked at a couple of items but could not face 3 courses!

After lunch we were told we had 30 mins before we leave for the village, just enough time to freshen up. Come 1500hrs we were herded into the small boat again and I was now confused as this was the part we'd been told we could kayak, so I asked and was told we get them from the dock at the village, had I known this I would have got changed into beach shorts, so annoyed, I said I was going to get changed only to be told no need, you not get wet, we have to leave. We walked off anyway to change!

After a short ride we docked at a jetty and jumped in a double kayak, as I thought, it was open and already wet inside ( everyone else who kayaked soon had wet backsides and looked rather enviously at both of us in our swim shorts). Off we paddled in our ill fitting life jackets, Becky's looked liked it belonged to a sumo wrestler and the clips were broken, mine didn't even do up to see if the clips worked! We soon got told off for not following the boats in front ferrying the lazy people! So I put the  peddle down and went past them, so we could cruise in peace.

Without the orders from the boats we floated past little huts which actually floated on the water, they had children, dogs and even cats on board and I'm pretty sure hardly any of them had ever set foot on dry land! Saying that all the children laughed and waved at us and joined in with some good natured splashing, they were more than happy with their life and in a way I envied them for that, no cars, no satellite tv no pressures of modern life, just learning at school and fishing with the family to survive. We passed one house with a very protective dog, I didn't get too close but I was close enough for it to think about jumping in the kayak and a short while later one of the couples further back than us accidentally crashed their kayak into the same boat, much to our amusement. Pretty soon all you could hear was barking from the dog, who was now joined by two of his friends and the girl screaming and waving her paddle at them while her husband tried to reverse the kayak on his own. "kayak easy" the guy on the dock had said!

In the centre of the village was a floating school and tourist shop, so we were told we had to stop there for a " break", more grumbling from me as I had just spotted a massive sea cave and I wanted to explore that. With a quick lap of the floating school done, Bex and I jumped back in the kayak and paddled like demons to get to the cave first, only to find two American sat in the middle of it paddling round in circles! Bugger!

After a short wait while they worked out their issues, we got to go through and it was well worth the wait as we popped out the other side to an empty sea! A few photos and we paddled back through, to be told we " go too far, come back" now I wish we had torpedoes! We paddled on for another half an hour and arrived back at the dock and again, much to people's annoyance, we were the driest wet people there, so another smug smile for me.

Back on the boat, we had enough time to shower before our compulsory attendance on the sun deck for the sunset party, ironic as the sky was still grey and it was raining again. Jerry, our host, served wine and orange juice and told jokes. Credit where credit is due, he had a great sense of humour and had no problem joking about his belly as well as poking fun at us. We stayed on deck as it got darker and watched the lights come on from the other boats. The breeze was gentle and after the noise and rush of Saigon and Hanoi the peace and quiet was very noticeable and we soaked it up. Just as the stresses of the city were disappearing we went downstairs for a cookery lesson in making spring rolls. The idea was that we all make springs rolls which would then be cooked and given back to us as a pre meal snack, what great idea and it allowed me to get pictures of becky cooking ( proof for a later date). It was also during the lesson that I stole a glance at the evening's menu, which was all fish and squid! I know, we're on a boat what do you expect, but really? The whole menu? Fortunately people weren't too keen on the spring rolls so I manfully finished them off before tucking into steamed rice and vegetables. The evening was now ours, but by the time the meal finished it was gone 9, so we both retired for the evening to shower and relax. With the walks coming up I thought I'd better do some squats with the resistance bands we brought with us and after two sets the aircon was on full and I was trying not to melt, still, buns of steel and all that.....

09/10/11

6am wake up to find that the cloud had cleared and the sun was out. The sea was now a fantastic jade colour and the little islands were in their full glory, just like the man with the golden gun (yes that was Thailand, but you get the idea) after breakfast, at it's set time, again! We jumped on the small boat for a trip to the caves, supposedly the largest in Halong Bay. Unfortunately every other cruise in the area also does this trip so it was already quite busy as we walked up the 200 steps to the entrance.

The cave was huge, size wise it was close to Wookey Hole in Somerset, but unlike Wookey, this cave has been spoilt by tourism. They have laid a concrete path all the way through and cut out great chunks of rock for lights. I know people have to make money, but again I felt the cave had been diluted for people who can't watch where they walk!

On return to the boat the sun was out in force so Bex and I sat on the bow to enjoy the breeze and watch the world go by. By now I had enough of being told when to eat, so when the order to lunch was made (2hrs after breakfast) I decided I wasn't hungry and stayed for the view, as did becky.

This threw the staff into chaos again, and they came out to find us. The previous night we had laughed as everyone had sat down in the same seats as lunch and they had all done the same for this meal, sometimes we are the strange culture, afraid of meeting new people ( the previous night we were the last in, so we reluctantly sat in the same seats).

The cruise ended an hour later back in Halong Bay with the stunning views permanently etched in my mind. It's worth paying a little extra for a good mid range junk, I looked at some of the cheaper vessels and to be honest not many looked sea worthy, so heaven knows what it was like inside, but if cheap is all you can do then in my mind the views and the people will outweigh the risk.

Back to typing on the bouncy bus and a few hours to kill in Hanoi before the night train. I wonder if it's the same one made famous by the 90's dance group Kadoc....?

Ok, I know British rail is not the most organised rail system in the world, but compared to Vietnam rail it's a top 5 company!  We bought our tickets earlier in the trip, so I had assumed (idiot!) that these were train tickets as they had carriage numbers and berth numbers printed on them.......wrong!

You have to find the ticket agent you used and have your tickets attached to the tickets you have bought, on those tickets are a completely different set of berth numbers and these are the ones you use, confused?

After finally finding the right berths, we locked the door and settled in for a ride on the Orient Express (I'm not joking, our train was called the Orient Express) unfortunately apart from being a train, the name was the only thing the two shared in common. It's also unfortunate that you have to lock the doors straight away, apparently it's common practice for people who bought the cheap tickets to invade carriages with spare beds and then refuse to move, the train staff then just leave them there to save on arguments.

As the train got underway the air con, which was stuck on arctic started to blow in pure carbon monoxide from the engine and I started to wonder if I was ever going to wake up again, let alone sleep well. We also established that the railway is no better than the road system and at some points I swore I was on a roller coaster at Blackpool beach!