Halong Bay (or the Weekend We Froze Our Butts Off)

It was supposed to be the best way to see Halong (Descending Dragon) Bay, especially the parts where the junks and other motorised floating entities have no access. The weather was encouraging as well; for the first two days in Hanoi, we were treated to 18°C temperatures and cloudless, sunny skies.

Perfect kayaking weather.

Or so we thought.

After we’d paid Handspan [too many numbers] in USD, we were told to meet the bus in front of the Tamarind Café (where they have great grog) at 8 in the morning.

Hyeah, 8 in the morning on the day it turned freakin’ cold.

6°C. Before wind chill.

I was having second thoughts about kayaking by the time our bus arrived at the tourist pier in Halong City (apparently only tourists are allowed to use this pier when they visit the bay). The track pants and T-shirt combination I was wearing was suddenly becoming very inadequate. The thoughts were reinforced when we boarded our junk, the Dragon’s Pearl. If you can imagine a floating 4-star hotel (albeit a bit cramped, as ships’ cabins are wont to be), this would be it. I thought, when we were left to our own devices for the afternoon (ostensibly to catch the scenery from the upper decks of the junk; but it was still too cold, even for the Scandinavians with us), “This is it. I’m not kayaking. Whatever the price, I’m staying on this ship with the hot water showers and booze.”

Again, it wasn’t to be. The die had been cast.

The next morning, we (and 5 others from the Dragon’s Pearl who had signed up for kayaking as well) boarded a smaller boat to take us to Cat Ba Island to transfer to yet another boat to take us to base camp where, we were told, the good news was that we have showers; but the bad news is that there’s no hot water for the shower. My dragon’s pearls shrivelled at the thought and didn’t reappear until after we’d returned to Hanoi.

There were no regrets though (well, apart from my forgetting to pack a water-proof disposable camera). All the photos I had of Halong Bay (starting with this shot) came from the deck of the Dragon's Pearl (not mine).

The place was beautiful. Halong Bay (a UNESCO World Heritage site) lived up to its reputation. YM commented on how clean the waters were compared to what we’d seen in Thailand near Ko Samui (the Ang Thong Marine National Park). There were a total of five kayaks (the guide and the four double-kayaks manned by the fools who paid to freeze), all in very good condition, so we got most of the undivided attention of our expert guide, Anh.

Kayaking around Halong Bay was also when I learnt that the wife has no arm muscles.

Zero.

Nada.

Even when we were in a protected lagoon (cove, more like) of surpassing beauty and calm waters, the kayak refused to budge when she tried paddling by herself.

And I was wondering why we always ended up at the rear of the group.

It made a difference because we had to cross a stretch of open sea towards the end of the expedition. It was also late in the afternoon and the tides were coming back in. The worst two hours of my life. I was probably the only one in our kayak paddling and it was against the current.

Obviously we made it back to base camp safely, where, surprise, surprise, there was hot water after all. Well, lukewarm, but I wasn’t complaining. And some genius had hauled an actual toilet seat and placed it over the usual hole in the ground. Then it was rest before dinner before being lulled to sleep by the pounding of the surf.

All vacations should be like this.


Next post: Roaming With the Chickens (Mai Chau)