Ha Long Bay

After a couple days of sightseeing in Ha Noi and hiking adventures in Sa Pa, Lauren, John, and I treated ourselves to a bit of relaxation on Ha Long Bay.  

Our driver took us from Ha Noi out to Hai Phong; it was two hours of unnecessary traffic jams and movie soundtrack power ballads playing on loop.  There’s only so many times you can hear Because You Loved Me before you start contemplating jumping out of the van speeding down the highway. 

We hopped aboard the hydrofoil and headed toward Cat Ba, a journey with fewer power ballads but way more puking.  I love the smell of other people’s vomit in the morning.  (I saved all my puking for the next day....)

A short walk from the pier, we met up with our guide Lu at Eco Friendly Vietnam.  From there, we were whisked away to our private junk boat for the next three days on Ha Long Bay.  Two cabin rooms, sun deck, our tour guide Lu, Captain Vinh, and our private chef Duong, all for about $200 each -- a good deal if I ever saw one.

Cabin room

Plenty of shade up on the sun deck

Hard to complain about this view....

The first few hours on the boat were spent lying in the sun and taking in the views of Ha Long Bay.  The name means “Descending Dragon Bay” because the islands resemble the back of a dragon sinking into the water.

Finger Rock

Dragon's back / Islands

We sailed past many local fish farming villages as Lu filled us in on some of the history of Ha Long Bay.

Floating fishing village

Rush hour traffic

In the afternoon, we kayaked around in the bay.  Sadly, the water is polluted with garbage (even saw a hypodermic needle float by), so swimming was out of the question for me.  But the views from the kayak were beautiful.  We saw monkeys running around on the cliffs and navigated through caves around the islands.

That night, Duong cooked us up a feast of seafood delights, and we spent the evening playing cards and laughing.  After a few beers, Lauren and I quickly defaulting into our strange friend language of animal noises and obscure movie quotes, which we always find hilarious but left John wondering how either of us has managed to accomplish much more beyond tying our own shoes.  Following one particularly riotous exchange that left Lauren and me dissolving into tears, John sat across the table, stoney-faced, and asked, “What is even funny about ANY of that?”

It can’t be explained.  Sorry, John.

I spent the next day in bed feeling like this.  Luckily, I had this view to cheer me up.

Sick view.  Get it?? 

Ha Long Bay

Revived and fully rested, I was ready for adventure on the last day.  We made a stop at Monkey Island, an area in Cat Ba.  True to its name, there were monkeys on that island!

Checking out the newest visitors

That's a monkey. 

Awwww, monkey family

My next visit back to Milwaukee has a lot to live up to, so start planning, Lauren and John!