A Day in Halong Bay

Following breakfast Phuc briefed us on the activities of the day. The morning would be spent touring the Vung Vieng fishing village. 

A little Information about the Village: 

For generations the Vung Vieng people have lived in this area. The village is a "floating village": there are no structures built on land. Approximate 50+ families inhabit the village. The villagers' income come mainly from fishing, as well as tourism.


We load the infamous ancillary boat and begin making our way to the Vung Vieng village. We are transported to a floating area where we are transferred to smaller boats oared by village women. Once Jordan, Graham and I are on board our "oarer" hands me 3 hats. Wearing the hat was not optional. even though she did not use words, her gestures were universal. We realized quickly the hats were going to be a blessing, it was HOT!

Speaking of HOT, isn't he a HOT mess?!

Our guide began rowing us around the village. At one point she appeared to become aggravated because a fellow rower's boat passed ours. The two women exchanged words,...I'm not sure, but I don't think it had anything to do with a fish soup recipe.

These guys were barkers. I asked Phuc about the animals,..where do they run and play? She explained they are guard dogs, it's all they've ever known. Their purpose is to alert the villagers of thieves, specifically people from another village coming to steal the fishermen's catch. 

Note the child's riding toy and walker...

 The children go to school in the village until age 10. Then the parents decide if their child will continue his/her education on the mainland. Most do not continue school but go to work fishing. 

I thought these women looked so sad. There was no joy in their faces. Very little conversation between the three of them.

The Oyster Farm

Halong Bay Swag

Getting Old,..just ain't pretty sometimes

Graham was very excited about the kayaking excursion, I was looking forward to the adventure, as well. So, at the appointed time we joined the others in the ancillary boat, donned our life jackets and carefully climbed into the tandem plastic shell of a kayak. They handed us two paddles and away we went. We were one of the last boats to load; therefore, we were many strokes behind. And let's just say the synchrony of Team Gaines had something to be desired. But the views around the bay were simply breathtaking. 

As we ended our kayaking excursion, my arms ached, really ached. We had been paddling into a head wind and I was whipped. As we approached the ancillary side boat, I realized I had not given much thought (ok,..any thought) to how I was going to get my 53 year old self out of this boat while it was sitting in the water, several feet below the boarding boat. (Remember the photo of the boat.) You need to understand this was a group adventure. Everyone has either unloaded or waiting their turn and the Vietnamese crew (minus the captain) were positioned on the boat watching.

My first thought -- How am I going to stand up in this boat? I have on a life preserver (cruise requirements) and I am seated in the hull of a plastic thing floating on the water. Because of the confines of my seat, the life jacket is sitting up close to my chin. I must now fold my legs and come up from a sitting position with nothing to hold on to and without flipping the boat. I look up to see who is going to hoist me out of this watercraft.

6 - 8 feet above me in the ancillary boat is this baby faced Vietnamese crew member (who evidently has seniority over the others). He is looking down at me, smiling. He says "Madame, stand up please". I smile, but inside I'm thinking "Buddy, you need to get this girl a crane." So with much effort and a minimal amount of grunting and groaning, I stand my body upright.

As I'm standing there trying to catch my breath, thanking the good Lord for showing up again, I begin to survey the next hurdle...How am going to get my body up and inside that boat? There is no ladder, no foot or hand holds, nothing but a ledge that is positioned above the height of my waist and the boat column which is above head...Good grief. As I survey the dire state of affairs, Baby face #1 says "Madame, time to move from boat". 

So I grab for the column and hoist my knee to the ledge. But that's as far as I got because my life jacket is wedged under the lip of the boat's ledge and my arms are weak from paddling. My arms are wrapped around the column, my knee is on the ledge, but gravity is kicking in and I can not move. My left shin is taking the weight and the pain is awful. I'm stuck. I try lifting myself but nothing happens. Evidently I must have been making guttural sounds because the animated conversation amongst the Vietnamese crew abruptly stopped. Then I said, "I need some help!" Nothing. Nobody moves, no one says a word. I am losing grip on the column,...this is fixing to get ugly. 

So I take a risk. Without looking behind me I pull my leg off the ledge and put my foot down not knowing if I'm going find the floor of the plastic shell of a boat, the top of someone's head or the water. Thankfully, I land in the boat. I turn to look at Graham. I'm not sure if his facial expression is one of fear or embarrassment. He looked bewildered for sure!

At this point I am frustrated and in pain, I need to get in that boat NOW. My strong will takes over. I remove the life jacket and sling it over the boat muttering something about 'not drowning' under my breath. With all the strength I could muster, I climbed my 53 year old body up and over that rail. As I cleared the rail and landed in the boat, I looked at #1 and said "I am too old for this!" I know he didn't comprehend. He just smiled, nodded and said "yes, Madame".

After a hot shower, two Tylenol and a short nap dinner was served at 7:30. And what a delicious dinner it was.

Evidently word had gotten back to Phuc about my escapade. She approached me after dinner, "How was kayak? Are you tired, Madame? Your arms hurting after so much work? I give you a massage, eh?" Ahhhh, yes. Thank you.

We ended our first day with a little squid fishing off the ancillary boat. 

The Catch

Monday, May 27th

Off to Halong Bay 

Monday morning came early to those of us whose jet lag was still lagging. Alarm went off at 6:00. Michelle and Brooks headed to school at 7:00. We met the housekeeper/cook, Hang around 7:30. Our pick-up van for the cruise arrived to the apartment around 7:45. 

We loaded the Indochina Junk (tour company) van and greeted our fellow passengers. The driver turned and asked in broken English if we had our passports, I reached into my bag,…no passport. My jet-lagged brain scrambled to retrieve the mystery location.....my travel papers….in the red folder on my BED back in the APARTMENT. Augh! With hand gestures and a southern drawl that could stop a train, I told the driver to "wait" as I scrambled out of the van. (I could feel the eye rolls and groans.) Then I remembered I couldn't get into the apartment. (The housekeeper had the key to the iron gate) I mumbled something, Jordan said I'll call and get her to meet you. 

So, off I went. A middle-age American woman running down a side street in Vietnam wearing flip flops.  The shop owners and taxi drivers sitting outside seemed amused. (I'm sure they weren't complementing me on my smooth gazelle-like form or any other form for that matter). Hang met me at the gate, smiling as always. I ran up 3 flights of stairs, grabbed the passport and flew down the stairs, out through the front door, said thank you to smiling Hang,..passing my admirers on the way back to the van. 

The cruise representative welcomed us and told us that it would be a 3 hour drive to Halong Bay. I wish I could report that the trip was smooth and uneventful. I was sitting directly behind the driver,..ohh what a ride! Evidently driving anywhere in Vietnam is an adventure. 

Can you see the car in front of us passing the truck,
..driving head on into another truck????

Now our driver is doing the same thing....

After alot of horn blowing,..cavernous bumps,..miraculous near misses, our driver pulled in to (what appeared to be) a rest stop. (From the outside it looked like a large Old Time Pottery). But as we stepped inside I realized this was a 
KA-CHING tourist stop…Inside were all types of wares, everything from handpainted plates and bowls to dresses to mini Buddhas to fine artistry. 

 I was fascinated by a group of individuals quietly hand crafting  pictures made from thread. What intrigued me was the fact that some of these individuals appeared to be "little people", having some type of dwarfism. A salesman saw that I was interested and immediately became my shadow. Using every technique known to man (Og Mandino would have been proud.) he tried diligently to get me to make a purchase. Often exploiting these individuals and their "handicaps" (he never used that term) to flip my emotional switch. 

 The artwork was beautiful and evidently very time consuming to complete. But once Mr. Chen realized that this girl wasn't going to buy….he decided to move on to the next customer. 

After another hour or so of bumps and jolts and near misses (one being a water buffalo) we arrived safely to our destination. We disembarked from our van, claimed our luggage, and soon met up with our guide/cruise director. 

Her name was Phuc. She was very engaging, articulate and spoke fairly good English. They loaded us on a transfer boat (Remember this boat, you'll hear about it later.) and carried us to the Dragon Pearl 3 -- our home for the next 3 days.

We got briefly acquainted with our 15 co-travelers -- individuals from Canada, Europe, Australia and a couple from the Boston area. Graham and I provided the bookends in age for this bunch of travelers.

Then we checked into our quaint little cabins,

relaxed on the deck,

then it was time for lunch. Michelle had told me that the food was great and she was right. (How a cook can prepare all that food in such a small, HOT kitchen is a mystery to me.)

After lunch Phuc informed us we would be kayaking later that afternoon. Graham and I had kayaked (our first and last time) 8 years ago in Maine. He was a lot younger then and so was I.

I'll save the "kayaking adventure" for a later time. But in the meantime, take a good look at this boat, you'll hear more about it later...

Sunday, May 26th

PLAYING TOURIST 

...In A Far Away Land

Saturday night after dinner we decided to "sleep in" on Sunday, hoping to provide the "jet-lagged westerners" with some much needed sleep. (It didn't happen. Our brains were still on Tennessee time.) After a leisurely morning we headed out in the city for alittle lunch and sightseeing. Michelle and Brooks live close to West Lake (Ho Tay) so we decided to take in the sights with an electric car ride around the lake.   What a great way to see various parts of the city -- a slice of Hanoi culture and society,...and did I mention the motorbikes?

While touring the lake Michelle pointed out these lotus fields. The lotus flower is the official flower of Vietnam. The flowers grow in a pond. For Vietnamese the lotus symbolizes the purity of heart and mind and represent long life, health and good luck. You can't see the buds in this photo, in a couple of weeks the ponds will be covered with beautiful flowers.  Some of the people you see are posing for pictures, possibly their wedding pictures.
 


After touring the lake we visited a local pagoda. Most Vietnamese are Buddhist. 

Time for Lunch. Michelle took us to one of her favorite Italian restaurants.  The owner is Italian. The chefs/cooks are Vietnamese. The food was delicious.

If you know Graham, you know he loves his seafood. Thanks Graham for showing us your squid. 

My Yummy Ravioli

While eating we could hear a band playing and saw a crowd forming outside a nearby catherdral. So after lunch we went to investigate.

Evidently this was some type of Christian religious ceremony or celebration. 

After leaving the cathedral, we decided to head down to the Old Quarter. The Old Quarter is the oldest part of Hanoi, dating back to the 15th century. The Quarter is unique in that it is made of 36 streets or selling districts. Most streets are named for the items that are sold on that particular street or district. (We were touring in an electric car, so most of these shots are blurry. Trying to get used to the new camera. But at least I took my lens cap off, right Graham?)

I took this picture while crossing the street.

The Old Quarter is a very busy and stimulating place,...and did I mention NOISY?  

After arriving back to the apartment we turned our thoughts and attention to planning for our next adventure--a cruise on Halong Bay. Michelle gave us the "run down" on the itinerary and then came the "Vietnamese money lesson"...

10,000 vnd = $.50

20,000 vnd = $1.00

50,000 vnd = $2.50

100,000 vnd = $5.00

etc....

So tomorrow Jordan, Graham and myself will depart on a 3-day cruise on Halong Bay. Halong Bay has been listed as one of the 7 Wonders of the World. To say we're excited is an understatement.