Off to Halong Bay today, so we're up and packed, ready for breakfast at ten to seven. Green Bamboo tour company is going to pick us up here at the Galaxy at 8am. Trung (pronounced something like Choom), our guide, arrived around 10 to 8, we packed our gear into the Mercedes Sprinter bus and were on our way. It wasn't too long before we were into the country areas and heading in a North East direction. Lots of corn to start with, then some bananas and then lots of rice fields. No rice in the fields at this time of year, although plenty of nursery plots for seedlings. We did see one lady planting out a field.
The road rules here are similar to those in India or Nepal in that no one takes a lot of notice of them, although they do keep roughly to the right. The speed limit is 80 kilometres per hour and is enforced. We passed a checkpoint with a policeman with a radar gun set up on a tripod. Lots of interesting Farm Equipment - rotary hoe engines pulling trailers, etc. We saw some rotary hoes in the field, but most work was being carried out by hand. One town we went through was next to a coal mine, and everything was black - absolutely everything. As the trucks transported the coal through the town, coal dust obviously spreads everywhere. Can't imagine what the health of people would be like. We also passed a huge joint venture coal power station.
At morning tea, we stopped at a handicraft centre operated for disabled people (the result of the Agent Orange disaster). It was great to see something done for these people, considering there is no welfare system in Vietnam. In addition to patchwork and embroidery, there was also lacquerware and jewellery. We purchased a wall hanging.
Back in the bus and on towards Halong Bay, where we boarded our Junk, a very "First Class" Junk, I might add. Out on the Bay, we were passing 1969 (according to the Rough Guide) or 3,000 (according to Lonely Planet) limestone outcrop Islands.
The blurb "Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern Vietnam, famous for its emerald-green waters and thousands of towering limestone karsts topped with rainforests. Located in Quang Ninh province, it is a premier destination for cruising, kayaking, and exploring massive, naturally illuminated caves. "
Unfortunately for our visit, there was not a great deal of "emerald-green waters" as it was very hazy and we were a bit disappointed about the amount of pollution in the bay, the issue being just too many tourists. And we were out of season: " The most pleasant weather occurs from March to October. Winter months can be misty, which provides an eerie, mythical atmosphere, though visibility can be lower." Still fascinating to be here, however!
Passed a floating fishing village, which apparently even has its own school.
Lunch - Starters, Mantis Prawns (served with a small bowl of salt which you squeezed cumquat juice into) followed by regular prawns, then a whole fish, rice, taro balls, squid and vegetables, Chinese cabbage and chunks of orange to finish on. We also had one glass of wine free with our meal. Our lunch was interrupted periodically by having to go upstairs to take photos of the spectacular scenery. Our cabin is very cute, even has air conditioning as well as fans, not that we need those now, as it's winter at the moment.
Visited Hang Sung Sot Cave, well caves actually. It was huge and, as such, was not even scary for the claustrophobics among us.
Next stop, Titop Island, with a beach and steps leading up to a lookout at the top of the island. The view from the top was pretty spectacular.
Back on our Junk, which is a bit of a challenge in itself. There are so many of them, and they all look similar. Ours is one of the smaller ones with only 16 tourists aboard, along with 4 guides and about 9 staff. Dinner was just as amazing as lunch, crab, prawns, fish, sweet sticky rice, etc., etc.
After dinner, one of the waitresses brought around pearls for sale - black, pink and white strings for $50US. She said they were found here in Halong Bay. She was very determined to sell something and went straight to Jennie - she could obviously tell that she was into classy stuff and was a shopper extraordinaire. The salesgirl kept putting them around Jennie's neck and showing them to her in the mirror. Jennie was very strong and said no. We made her night, Alex making the decision to purchase a string of black pearls on a chain for Jill's birthday (next week) - there will be many more occasions that Jill can wear them than an actual string of white pearls. Just to prove that they were real, the salesgirl took out a cigarette lighter and put a flame to them. Guess imitation ones would melt.
