Woken up by a crowing rooster. At 5 am. Too tired for it to bother me too much.
Breakfast at the hotel had pho (yay! though the beef was tough) along with the usual continental spread. Then a 3-hour ride to Ha Long city to catch the boat. The journey was broken up with a toilet/souvenir shop break where minivans spewing tourists squeezed into a small parking lot. “10th/11th century” relics were cavalierly displayed in dusty cases and going for a steal at a couple of hundred dollars.
Operation Ha Long continued at the jetty as tour agents settled the tickets and herded us about. Trolley bags in hand, we clambered over another boat to get to ours. No sweat, though the boats did begin to drift apart as S was straddled across them. Lunch was served on board, simple but satisfying: cucumber, fish, tofu, green veggies and fried spring rolls. Lounged on the upper deck after that.
Breakfast at the hotel had pho (yay! though the beef was tough) along with the usual continental spread. Then a 3-hour ride to Ha Long city to catch the boat. The journey was broken up with a toilet/souvenir shop break where minivans spewing tourists squeezed into a small parking lot. “10th/11th century” relics were cavalierly displayed in dusty cases and going for a steal at a couple of hundred dollars.
Operation Ha Long continued at the jetty as tour agents settled the tickets and herded us about. Trolley bags in hand, we clambered over another boat to get to ours. No sweat, though the boats did begin to drift apart as S was straddled across them. Lunch was served on board, simple but satisfying: cucumber, fish, tofu, green veggies and fried spring rolls. Lounged on the upper deck after that.
The Ha Long bay experience sometimes seemed like a composite of past tours – cruising down Lijiang, drifting on a bamboo raft in Yangshuo, with shades of Longqingxia thrown in. The sense of déjà vu was particularly strong with the visit to the limestone caves. The admittedly impressively-sized Thien Cung Grotto was lit “in the Chinese style,” which meant a garish array of multi-coloured lights.
As it was low tide when we reached Cat Ba island, we had to transfer onto a smaller boat to get ashore. “Like refugees!” gaily commented one of the uncles in our group. The ride to the bay area from the jetty was soundtracked by what could conceivably be Vietnamese folk music/opera. We were deposited at Nam Duong hotel and opted for rooms on the 5th floor (two rooms with 2 twin beds as opposed to a 3-1 split). Hiked up the stairs to our rooms and found lovely views of the sunset from the hallway. Found out later that the other half of the group ended up in a hotel with no seaview, though they could have gotten up close and personal with the hill if they so wished from their windows.
Cat Ba in off-peak season brought to mind Tossa del Mar and Viareggio. We plonked ourselves down on a bench and watched the sun go down while snacking on dao (tiny apples with a crunchy bite) and tiny tangerines (very sweet and flavourful). Dinner back at the hotel was a variation of lunch: beans, better fish, calamari, tomatoes fried with egg, soup. Shared table with retiree from France who was traveling with his wife?/mistress?/girlfriend?
Checked out the beach after dinner. Found two campfires going on: one with disco music blaring and tentative dancing, while the other was much more sedate.
We returned to the bay area to find Cat Ba stirring. There were kids everywhere, men hanging out by the shopfronts, young men and women cruising down the grandiosely broad boulevards. We decided that their principal form of entertainment was klkk, kia lai kia kih, or ‘walk here, walk there.’ “Hey, how’s it going?” “Well, we’ve just kl, now we’re gonna kk!”
There were also massage parlours, karaoke joints, street peddlers (selling pearls, clothing, food), cafes and even the odd disco or two. The Flightless Bird (LP) was full so we settled for flashing-ball-of-light café instead. And watched in disbelief as S poured her coffee into a glass after we had had a conversation about the perils of ice the previous night. Despite pouring the coffee back out, it was too late, and S ended up with an upset stomach. So much for rocking the Cat Ba.