First, the good news: We're leaving Hanoi! After three days here I'm ready for a change, and scenic, tranquil Halong Bay is just what the travel doctor ordered. The bad news: We're leaving at 8am and I crawled into bed at 4:30. That's not a lot of sleep to be waking up on time and packing for a three day excursion. I think I did pretty well to only be 20 mintues late, and I might have even been on time if the hotel people checking me out of my room could do math.
After a miserable 3-hour bus ride in the smallest mini-bus in hell we arrived in Halong Bay and boared a boat, only to find that in the blur of activity that morning I had left my passport in my backpack, which was in storage at the hotel. At first I was told I wouldn't be allowed to stay on the boat, but I guess they figured it would be easier to hide me if the cops came than to find me new accomodations. Phew!
Halong Bay is beautiful. Towering mounds of rock shooting out of the water all around you. There are a couple thousand of these islands in the Bay, dotted with coves and caves, and swarming with tourist boats, little house boats, and local fishing boats putting around the islands. Around every corner there are new islands and new things to see. It's a breathtaking place.
We stopped for a quick swim in the heavy currents and murky (dirty?) water, and then went to a cave that had been made tourist-ready to the point of being more amusement park than natural wonder. The walls of the cave were covered in graffiti and the amazing stalagmite and stalagtite were all bathed in eerie red and blue lights. Dinner and sunset on the boat, and then card games and chatting until bed time. It's strange how long the evening seems when the sun goes down at 5:30. Oh, and no cops came looking for me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment