The highlight of my trip was most
definitely the overnight cruise from Halong Bay. Probably because when you read an article or
look at a brochure of Vietnam the most used image is of cruise boats in Halong
Bay. It looks so amazing that you begin
to presume they're photo shopped, as nothing can be that beautiful. 16 years
ago my hubby and I did a trip to Thailand and the 2 places we really wanted to
visit were Phi Phi and James Bond Islands. I have never been as disappointed as
I was on arrival at James Bond Island.
Where was the clear blue water that all the brochures depicted? Had the brochures I'd been selling Thailand
from for 10 years been lying to me? (The Internet wasn't as widely used or
informative in those days).
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| Halong Bay |
So we arrived in Halong Bay after a 4
hour bus journey from Hanoi and boarded our boat Indochina Sails and I was immediately
impressed. My cabin had a King size bed and a small balcony, a bathroom of
marble with a shower and a Jacuzzi bath.
How bad can this trip be? Even if
the sights do disappoint the boat impresses me.
We sit down to lunch as we cruise out the Harbour behind some other
boats. Small rocky outcrops become
bigger and suddenly we are surrounded by small mountains. A set lunch is served and I'm even more
impressed. Hot pumpkin soup in an
amazing bowl with a candle that keeps our soup boiling till the last
mouthful. Spring rolls, followed by grilled
prawns all exquisitely served. By this
stage the mist is lifting and the scenery gets more and more incredible. I decide I need a break and venture out of
the Air-conditioned Dining Deck to the heat and humidity and to enjoy the
scenery alone outside. So I stand at the front of the boat (feeling a bit like
Rose in Titanic) while love songs play from the Captains Bridge and I marvel at
the incredible scenery around me. The mountains look dark and eerie in the
misty overcast weather, the other boats in the distance look like they are
being eaten up by the mist and you can almost imagine them never being seen
again. This is when I realize that brochures and the Internet do lie as all the
photos I've seen show clear blue skies, but somehow this makes my experience so
much more special and with tears rolling down my cheeks I realize just how
lucky I am to be standing there in this incredible place.
So after my emotional moment I returned
to the Dining Deck to finish lunch before a relaxing massage. Then it is time for our Bamboo Boat tour
around a small fishing village. The people live such a basic life, many aboard
a small fishing boat with only a 2x3m shelter from the sun and the rain. And yet, they are happy and even when they
are relocated into villages by the Government the majority all return to the
life they knew aboard their boats and for the lucky few they have a small house
to shelter in during Monsoon season although many appear to prefer the life on
board their boats. I was amazed at how
many small children and dogs there were sitting on the boats or the small decks
around the houses.
As the afternoon cools so the sky opens
and suddenly a clear blue sky appears and proves the brochures and Internet
don't lie. We sip Cocktails as we watch
the Sunset which is breathtakingly beautiful. Then it's time for the Seafood
buffet which certainly doesn’t disappoint and then an evening under the stars
with friends. I was up bright and early
the next morning to view the sites and have a quick swim at Titov Beach before
we had a lovely late breakfast while sailing back. Our cruise had come to an end far too fast,
so my suggestion is to rather book the 2 night cruise if your budget
allows.
Arriving back in Hanoi to the hustle and
bustle of many many scooters. Vietnam
has a Population of 90 million and 40 million registered scooters. I found it fascinating to see a family of 4
all seated together on one scooter, or a builder loaded to maximum with wood or
sheets of metal making his way through the traffic. Crossing a busy road seemed impossible as
there are scooters coming at you from all directions, buy our tour guide Ha
soon taught us the local way. Step off
the pavement and just walk at a steady pace.
The scooters will manoeuvre around you liked a skilled army doing their
marching. It was totally
incredible. And at no stage during our
week there did we ever see any kind of road rage or even irritation towards
people, vehicles or busses. A common
form of warning is not the use of indicators but the use of a hooter, which
seemed to be continually blown on ever journey we took.
Meals were never quick and simple, but a
lingering lengthy process of many courses enjoyed with great company. A standard lunch consisted of 6 to 8 courses
with dinners being 8 to 12 courses.
Sometimes a few courses were served together and other times the next
course would not arrive until the first one was completed. The meals however were always very tasty with
lots of fresh leaves and vegetables to make spring rolls from. Soup and spring rolls (normally not fried)
were offered at each meal. Many of the
courses consisted of Pork with Beef which is a delicacy, always being one of
the courses. Only one of our meals allowed us to see the strange things that
the Vietnamese people consider their delicacies. A buffet restaurant frequented by the locals
for birthday celebrations was a true eye opener and I must admit that very
little was eaten that evening. Perhaps
the biggest reason being we could not identify most of the food although I
could see one thing was definitely very small birds which seemed to have been
deep fried until crispy and the locals certainly were pushing and shoving to
get to that counter.
A trip to Vietnam would not be complete
without a few days in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). An afternoon at the Cu Chi Tunnels would not
have been the same had we not experienced it in a downpour. Seeing some of those holes the Vietnamese
disappeared into when attacking the American’s seemed impossibly small, now
image those tunnels filled with water and the Vietnamese trying to crawl
through them. One particular hole was no
bigger than my shoe (and I only take a size 6), but while we were discussing
the impossibility of any child let alone a man fitting into it, he appeared
lifted the lid and slid down inside replacing the lid covered in leaves so that
no hole existed anymore. A visit to the
War Remnants Museum was interesting, but the section dedicated to Agent Orange
and all the deformities it caused was very depressing. A fun day was had by all as we explored My
Tho a small town along the Mekong River, even getting to experience a boat ride
up a narrow section of the delta.
Overall an absolutely awesome trip to
Vietnam ending off with a Business Class flight home on Qatar Airways. What an amazing end to a really incredible
journey.
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| Cu Chi Tunnels |
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