Halong Bay - Day 11 & 12

(1/1/10-1/2/10)

I woke up at 6 am to make sure that no one else would be using the shower, since I was staying in a dorm and I knew several people were going on the same tour I was. I'd forgotten where I put my toiletries in my bag, and I was trying not to wake up anyone in the room, so I ended up having to take a shower without them.

Had my breakfast around 7 after I put my bigger bag into storage. I knew I'd be coming back to the same hostel since the tour I was going on was hosted by them. It was only an overnight trip, so I just had my smaller day pack with a change of clothes and the toiletries that I'd managed to find by the light of day. I checked my email, something I've realized I'm utterly addicted to, and waited until around 8:20 or so when we headed onto the bus, bright neon sombreros in hand (since the dock was crowded with foreigners we'd be able to find our group easily). It took us around 4 hours to get to the harbor. I was hoping by the time we got to the bay the weather would have cleared up a bit, but it was cloudy, overcast, and foggy. Not the best weather for sight-seeing, especially when half the view is reflected on the water.


So some people boarded a small boat to take us to the main ship, but it didn't fit everyone. Instead of the guide staying with the group on the shore, he went with the first group and didn't come back with the boat, either. It was a good thing we had our sombreros, otherwise I don't think the boat would have been able to find the rest of our group.

So we sat on top deck for a while once we'd boarded, where we were told lunch would be in 5 minutes. 20 minutes later we were told it was time to eat. Some people had itineraries that were given to them when they paid for the trip. I'm guessing I never got one because I paid online. It would have been useful, though, because I would have known to pack my long sleeve shirt and jacket. I was shivering just about the whole time on the boat.


After lunch we got assigned to our rooms, and were were told check out time was the next morning at 7:30am. Which seemed a bit strange to me since I was still going to be on board until at least after lunch the next day, and the people that were staying for three days (instead of the two that I'd booked) didn't leave much before lunch. My roommate's name was Sarah, and she seemed nice enough, especially since she offered to share the bottle of vodka that she'd snuck on board (of which I politely declined to partake).


At 3:30 the kayaks were brought to the boat and we followed the guide out to a cave. I didn't take my camera because I didn't think we'd be getting out of the boat, which was soaking wet, and it was sprinkling pretty hard when we boarded. Originally the guide told us to wear flip-flops and shorts because we'd be getting wet. I assumed this would be from the boats and just general being that close to water. I only brought one pair of jeans with me, which I just hoped would dry out by the next day. I was in a kayak with Sarah. I rowed in the back, partially because she'd never been in a canoe before, and partially because I'm a bit of a control freak and unless I know you, I want to be in charge of steering the boat.


We followed the guide as best we could to a cave, where we pulled the kayaks onto a rocky shore that was not at all conducive to flip-flops. I decided to just take my shoes off (I was wearing crocs) and carry them. Then the guide asked if anyone had brought a torch (or flashlight, for us Americans). He kept insisting that he had told us all to bring one, but everyone else insisted that he hadn't. I didn't have one to bring, so it wouldn't have mattered for me, but other people had them in their luggage. I think the next time I go traveling I'll bring one. There's been several times where one would have been helpful, especially during the winter when it gets dark so early.



So after trying to go into the cave and realizing that it was too dark, we headed back to the kayaks. I put my shoes back on about a minute too soon, and I slid on some rocks and cut my left elbow a bit.



So we headed out to where the guide said we could row through the mountains. Across from the cave was a real floating village, with peoples boats tied together. People were cooking on the boats, as well as sleeping. I really wish I'd had my camera at that point - the floating village was the coolest part of the bay. So then we paddled through a hold in the side of a rock into an enclosed lagoon of sorts. We just floated there for a while without the guide saying anything. After about 5 minutes he said we were still missing one boat. But we turned around and headed back to the main ship without waiting for them.



Turns out the two people on the missing boat had been following the wrong kayak group and had gotten lost. By the time we got back to the boat it was getting dark, and once I'd changed and taken pictures it was completely dark. And the two people in the boat were from two different countries, neither of whom spoke the same first language (though they both spoke English reasonably well enough). The lost boat had been asking people for help, but no one seemed interested in helping them. Finally a motorboat offered to bring them back to their boat, but once they got to our boat they wanted 500,000 dong (approx. $26) from each of them for picking them up. Diego refused to pay them on principal, and apparently the girl disappeared. Eventually one of the guys who worked for the hostel talked them down to 100,000 dong each (about $10 total), with the intention of getting his money back from the hostel once he docked.


I went to bed just after dinner that night. I was a bit tired from being up so early, and from the sounds of it, the rest of the night was a bunch of drinking (which wasn't free) and drinking games, so I wasn't that upset about missing it.

I got up at 6am the next day, but it was still cloudy so I couldn't see the sunrise. The people doing the 3-day trip got off the boat around 9:30, and the people that stayed on the island the night before (who had started their three day trip a day before we left) boarded the boat. Some of the guys decided to go swimming, but didn't last long as the water was pretty chilly.



I talked with some of the other people on the boat, walked around taking pictures, and headed to the galley at around 11 for lunch. It took us a few hours to get back to the mainland, and even though it was still overcast, you could at least see farther out than you could the day before.





We took the bus back the hostel, where I arranged for a taxi to take me to the airport that night. I took a shower and changed, and had dinner with one of the guys I had met on the boat. Shortly before I left I got my bag out of storage and checked my email once more. The flight back to Seoul was uneventful, and I got back to my own house around 7:30am on Sunday morning. Which gave me the whole day to upload, organize, and look through the 1054 pictures I took.

And that was the end of my first solo international trip. I enjoyed it so much that I'm planning another solo trip to Ukraine later this year (after which I'll join my friend and go to Prague and Germany). I have a new obsession. I'm no longer addicted to tattoos. I'm addicted to international travel.