Halong Bay to Hoi An

Part Two of our Vietnam adventure begins on an early and bleary-eyed morning with a jam packed mini van of tourists headed east out of Hanoi on the three hour trip to the coast. After a hurried slurp of our new favourite breakfast of Pho Bo (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) we jump in and head to our next destination.

But where exactly were we headed?

Made up of a maze of thousands of sheer limestone islands that rise out of a sea of emerald green, Halong Bay is one of the places we had both wanted to visit way back when we first started planning our trip (like us, you might have seen it on the Vietnam Top Gear special).

However, now we were in Vietnam, we weren't sure if Halong Bay was going to be all that we had hoped. We had already heard mixed reviews from people we met on the road; some warned of being ripped off by the boat cruise operators, others told of a sea full of rubbish around every turn. To be honest our expectations weren't that high - especially as we were paying less than most people we talked to. Our fears turned out to be foundless, as we loved everything about our short trip in the bay.

The area of Halong Bay (which means 'bay of the descending dragon' in Vietnamese) covers around 1,553km2, including 1,960 islets, the vast majority of which are (apart from the monkeys and birds) completely uninhabited. The communities that are based in the bay, instead live out their lives entirely on the water. A population of around 1,600 people live in four small fishing villages of floating houses. They are sustained through fishing, marine aquaculture (cultivating marine plant life) and selling overpriced beer and out of date chocolate to tourists.

We arrive around mid-day into the quay side of Halong city.

Very much like any other busy port or fishing town in Vietnam, Halong city is nothing more than a jump off point to what we were all here for. Our guide for the trip, Vin Ly (Vinny to us), herded us through the throng of Vietnamese weekenders and sweat drenched tourists to the dock for a ferry trip to our junk boat. Vinny was an amiable lad, which luckily made up for the fact that no one could understand half of what he said. He shouted instructions in his special version of English as we waited for the boat, listening blindly and nodding along.

Just out from the port we saw our boat. Looming at the edge of hundreds of other junks, it wasn't the prettiest of the bunch and from the Heritage boat's faded yellow and red stain varnish exterior, it looked a little bit like we were booked on the Hidee-Hi junk boat tour. Once we were inside though, we were happy with our choice; great food, comfy beds and lots of friendly people.




 


After just twenty minutes we were in a completely different world, surrounded on all sides by high cliffs in the bay of the descending dragon. Around every corner the views kept on getting better; We drifted along for a couple of hours, occasionally seeing glimpses of the fishing communities or another tourist boat headed in a different direction. Eventually, we came to a stop in a wide basin with several other boats around us.

 We stopped here for the night, leaving the boat to explore the local caves and to go kayaking just before sunset.

The kayaking was amazing. Vinny, who was sharing my kayak, directed us to a lagoon that you reach by paddling through a long, low cave. Once there he urged us all to swim in the deep water

'The water. It's Okay Vinny? No Sharks or Jellyfish?' I asked him half joking, before getting in.

'No jelly, no nothing problem' He assured me.

Fine. We all jumped in and had a swim around the lagoon.It was only when I got back in the kayak that I noticed a ten foot jellyfish bobbing right next to the boat. I felt like pushing Vinny in with the thing, instead I just gave him a clack round the head and pointed it out.

'What's that then if It's not a jellyfish eh?'

'Never sting me yet.' said Vinny, smiling happily.

As we had saved money on the boat ticket, we decided to splash out on a nice bottle of wine at dinner. Four bottles later, I had to drag Miss Hope to bed before she bankrupt us on bottle number five. The next day we headed back to Hanoi nursing our hangovers. We had a night to soak it up and recover before we caught the train south on a sixteen hour journey to Hoi An.




The Train was comfortable enough. We were sharing with a very nice elderly Vietnamese couple in our four berth cabin. As they spoke as little English as we did Vietnamese, communication was limited to grins and sign language . At one point the old man leaned over, put his hands around my knee and squeezed, nodding and smiling. Still not sure what he was getting at.

The only problem we had on the journey was when the old couple had some supper. They bought a bag of eggs from the food trolley. The eggs in question were actually fertilized duck embryos! After making a hole in the top of the egg, they sucked out and crunched on the little Donald. The fact that the old woman had a face full of crooked teeth made this sight even more disgusting; even on the top bunk with my back turned, the smell and sound was making me gip, so I could only imagine how Sarah was doing facing the old girl on the bottom bunk. The woman finished the last of the eggs and put them in the bin by Sarah's bed. Sar looked at the woman, pinched her nose and pointed to the door.

We arrived in Da Nang station, and were picked up by a taxi to our hotel in Hoi An. Like Halong bay, Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site, and possibly our favourite place to so far in south east Asia. It seems, for now at least, to have the right balance between the old and new; as both a tourist trap and living city. We loved our hotel and the people who worked there. They made us feel like we were at home, bringing us snacks and drinks (they even gave us a present when we left). We spent our days wandering around the old town, having a beer or two and a spot of lunch. The shops were great too, with lots of unique art and souvenirs instead of the same old, same old in every shop (as we have found in a lot of other tourist destinations).

Despite not having much of a footballing history, the Vietnamese are just as football mad as the rest of Asia. At night the streets near our hotel were lined with makeshift bars of a TV, crates of local beer and deckchairs. We managed to catch most of the World Cup games (all with Vietnamese commentary), including England's successful attempts to frustrate and disappoint even more than last time.

We took the opportunity to get a few new tops from one of the many tailors in Hoi An, as after ten months of travel, our clothes were looking threadbare and a bit trampy. Sar's mum very kindly paid for our new garb (thank you Glenys, I know you can't stand the thought of us traveling around Asia all scruffy like). The place we chose was cheap (but good quality) and fast. We were both really happy with the results - We will definitely be back to Hoi An in the future to get kitted out with a new wardrobe.

We were really surprised by Hoi An and Vietnam in general. We didn't have anything like the trouble we were expecting. The language barrier was a problem at times, but to be honest it felt like a bit more of an adventure. It just goes to show that everyone and every trip is different. A lot of people we know have had a completely opposite feeling, citing the fact that Vietnamese people will try to rip you off shamelessly at any and every opportunity. Personally, I found the people we met to be warm and friendly. Yes, they can be cheeky (Sar says rude), but I found this endearing and funny - most of the time.

After a week of wandering around Hoi An, we took a flight back to Saigon and got a room for the night so we were ready to catch the bus to Cambodia the next morning. More of that to come in the next post, I've written enough for today and I'm sure you have some work to do (suckers!).


Here are few more photos from our time in Halong Bay and Hoi An.

 Our Boat in Halong Bay.

 Local woman selling snacks and booze to the tourists.

 Market Trader selling fruit and veg, Vietnam style.

 Temple in Hoi An

The best way to get around Hoi An without pouring with sweat.

One of the many bikes in Hoi An. 

There is a nice beach too.

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