Comfortable night in Hongngoc Hotel – aircon, good breakfast variety then minibus for 4 hours towards Halong Bay. Comfort stop where we saw amazing marble sculptures en route.
We arrived at beautiful Halong Bay and a small private boat awaited. Crew members greeted us with damp flannels as we boarded. After freshening up in our little cabin berths, we regrouped in the dining room for lunch. Again, an excellent selection of Vietnamese food, including the best ever calamari!
After lunch we relaxed for an hour in the sunshine on the top deck before preparing for a bit of kayaking. I was a little concerned about my lower back problem but usually find a bit of different activity is good for it. Gill and I shared a kayak and soon got the hang of it. We stayed fairly close to Jack and Hwan, leaving the guys, Michael and Gareth behind in the distance. They took a while to work out a rhythm. We paddled across the bay and weaved in and out of the rocks and caves. At one point in a peaceful area we saw a monkey and then some black kites. Paddling back to the boat, my back was really hurting and climbing back up aboard was so difficult, even with the help of the young Vietnamese crew. However, a shower of sorts, change of clothes and a Pinacolato soon put us right.
Dinner was the usual delicious assortment of delicacies, including, oysters and humongous prawns neatly arranged upright around a display of flowers cleverly handcrafted from vegetables. After dinner we retired to the top deck to enjoy the final moments of a pretty impressive sunset. A karaoke had been mentioned, but we were a small select group, thank goodness, so that was out. I said “Does anyone have a pack of cards?” to which both Gareth and Michael replied “I do!” The evening was then spent playing ‘presidents and Arseholes’ – a new one on me but lots of fun!
We finally retired to our hot cabins. Aircon yes, but only when the generator was not being used to cook or to make the boat move! Yikes…. ‘Maureen, there’s a beetle on my bed!’ Armed with a glass tumbler, I moved the bed as it crawled along the edge then disappeared from sight. Meanwhile Gill was in the bathroom with a mallet trying to prevent another coming in through a hole in the floor. Hole safely plugged with loo paper, we retired to bed. A very hot sticky night but we managed a few hours sleep.
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