April 11-12, 2010 We awoke early after a much better night's rest at the Rose Hotel and got our gear in order for our 2 day/1 night excursion on a junk sailing through Halong Bay- a Unesco World Heritage site a few hours from Hanoi. Upon arrival we were split up into different groups based on which tour package we were doing--I think for a total of $30-35 we got transportation, meals for 2 days, admission to the park, cabins on the boat and any other activities fees!
We finally boarded our boat which was a beautiful wooden schooner with a dragon figurehead on the front. It had 3 stories--the cabins, the dining/common area and the upper d
eck for relaxing. It was kind of cloudy when we got there, but it made for an amazing picture as through the clouds and mist arose these enormous emerald karsts for which Halong is so famed. Everywhere you turned you were surrounded by these stellar limestone mountains appearing to swim in the deep green waters of the bay. Once you got past some of the litter (a quick clean up would do a world of wonder) floating in the water you realized that this really is one of the most beautiful settings you have ever seen. After a filling lunch we made our first stop of the day: 
Surprise Cave. Now, we've been to a few caves during our time in SE Asia and weren't really expecting much, but it turned out to be expansive and beautiful. Our guide was really entertaining and was sure to spend a good portion of time describing the meaning of the cave's name and showing us the reason for it--the surprise turned out to be a 
noticeably 'excited' phallic rock protrusion that was very obviously lighted. I guess it gets a little boring studying rocks and caves so a sense of humor is a must. I can't imagine how many times our guide has seen this rock, but he still couldn't stop laughing during the tale of 'surprise cave.' We spent time exploring the different rooms of the cave and seeing the magnificent limestone formations throughout. Next we made our way to a floating village (literally houses floating on empty barrels in the middle of the bay) where we went from our junk into 2-person kayaks for a couple hours of ex
ploration and paddling. We got out at a couple cave spots and even discovered a small shrine/temple area in one. It turned out that kayaking is actually a lot of work, especially when you're trying hard to ram into your friends and tip their kayak or paddle away from them as they try to tip you. We decided to go around the other side of the village to get a different view and as we were doing this we realized we had no idea how their plumbing systems worked. They are floating in the water, but where does their toilet flush to? Well Emily and I soon encountered the answer to this question as we found ourselves paddling amidst a few 'Baby Ruth' look-a-likes. Needless to stay we found an energy reserve and speed raced our way back to the docks :) Aboard the junk again we toured around a bit more until our captain told us we had reached the place where we were going to anchor for the evening. After soaking in some more of the scenery some of the oth
er passengers, Mark and I decided to go swimming (the girls chickened out.) We decided go big or go home and jumped off the top of the highest deck on the boat which turned out to be much higher than I anticipated. Rule of thumb: If you have enough time to realize you're falling and that the water is still far away, you probably should jump from a lower altitude! If the impact from the water didn't snap you back to reality, the temperature sure did--it was FREEZING! And if it weren't for the fact that you had to muscle your way up a rusty ladder that was only reachable to you in the water when the boat tilted your way in the waves, I probably would have immediately jumped back onboard. However, we decided to endure the cold and spent a good amount of time swimming and treading water with our fellow boatmates (a British girl, some Dutch, some French and some Chinese.) All the activity (including having to hoist our large, older Chinese friend onto the junk's deck) had worked us up quite the appetite and we couldn't wait to shower and head into dinner. The only added expense on the boat was if you wanted a 2nd beverage (after the one they provided.) Well naturally-we were on a boat- the prices were a bit hefty in SE Asia terms, and they told us that we couldn't bring our own with us. As this must be the rule on many boats there were these little gypsy boat ladies who rowed around the bay selling goods to passengers. All you had to do was head out of your room and wave or make eye contact and she would sneakily make her way to the side of the junk where you would negotiate a price and she would use a long pole with a basket to quickly hoist your purchases up and over the rail. It's a really hysterical process as you feel like you're smuggling something illegal over the border when in fact you just want a beer or a can of soda! We spent the evening on the top deck mingling with our new friends and laughing about various experiences, etc. When it was dark we went to the 2nd level and played cards with our British friend, Nicole, and our Dutch friend, Celia. It was really funny teaching them the rules to some of our American games and also them teaching us rules they had to similar games in their countries. It's amazing how cool and friendly people can be even when you only met them earlier that day! The next day found us further exploring some of the famous formations in the bay and lounging on deck chairs catching some rays. It was sad to leave behind such an easy life on the junk, but at least we had another night to look forward to at the Rose Hotel back in Hanoi!
eck for relaxing. It was kind of cloudy when we got there, but it made for an amazing picture as through the clouds and mist arose these enormous emerald karsts for which Halong is so famed. Everywhere you turned you were surrounded by these stellar limestone mountains appearing to swim in the deep green waters of the bay. Once you got past some of the litter (a quick clean up would do a world of wonder) floating in the water you realized that this really is one of the most beautiful settings you have ever seen. After a filling lunch we made our first stop of the day: 
Surprise Cave. Now, we've been to a few caves during our time in SE Asia and weren't really expecting much, but it turned out to be expansive and beautiful. Our guide was really entertaining and was sure to spend a good portion of time describing the meaning of the cave's name and showing us the reason for it--the surprise turned out to be a 
noticeably 'excited' phallic rock protrusion that was very obviously lighted. I guess it gets a little boring studying rocks and caves so a sense of humor is a must. I can't imagine how many times our guide has seen this rock, but he still couldn't stop laughing during the tale of 'surprise cave.' We spent time exploring the different rooms of the cave and seeing the magnificent limestone formations throughout. Next we made our way to a floating village (literally houses floating on empty barrels in the middle of the bay) where we went from our junk into 2-person kayaks for a couple hours of ex
ploration and paddling. We got out at a couple cave spots and even discovered a small shrine/temple area in one. It turned out that kayaking is actually a lot of work, especially when you're trying hard to ram into your friends and tip their kayak or paddle away from them as they try to tip you. We decided to go around the other side of the village to get a different view and as we were doing this we realized we had no idea how their plumbing systems worked. They are floating in the water, but where does their toilet flush to? Well Emily and I soon encountered the answer to this question as we found ourselves paddling amidst a few 'Baby Ruth' look-a-likes. Needless to stay we found an energy reserve and speed raced our way back to the docks :) Aboard the junk again we toured around a bit more until our captain told us we had reached the place where we were going to anchor for the evening. After soaking in some more of the scenery some of the oth
er passengers, Mark and I decided to go swimming (the girls chickened out.) We decided go big or go home and jumped off the top of the highest deck on the boat which turned out to be much higher than I anticipated. Rule of thumb: If you have enough time to realize you're falling and that the water is still far away, you probably should jump from a lower altitude! If the impact from the water didn't snap you back to reality, the temperature sure did--it was FREEZING! And if it weren't for the fact that you had to muscle your way up a rusty ladder that was only reachable to you in the water when the boat tilted your way in the waves, I probably would have immediately jumped back onboard. However, we decided to endure the cold and spent a good amount of time swimming and treading water with our fellow boatmates (a British girl, some Dutch, some French and some Chinese.) All the activity (including having to hoist our large, older Chinese friend onto the junk's deck) had worked us up quite the appetite and we couldn't wait to shower and head into dinner. The only added expense on the boat was if you wanted a 2nd beverage (after the one they provided.) Well naturally-we were on a boat- the prices were a bit hefty in SE Asia terms, and they told us that we couldn't bring our own with us. As this must be the rule on many boats there were these little gypsy boat ladies who rowed around the bay selling goods to passengers. All you had to do was head out of your room and wave or make eye contact and she would sneakily make her way to the side of the junk where you would negotiate a price and she would use a long pole with a basket to quickly hoist your purchases up and over the rail. It's a really hysterical process as you feel like you're smuggling something illegal over the border when in fact you just want a beer or a can of soda! We spent the evening on the top deck mingling with our new friends and laughing about various experiences, etc. When it was dark we went to the 2nd level and played cards with our British friend, Nicole, and our Dutch friend, Celia. It was really funny teaching them the rules to some of our American games and also them teaching us rules they had to similar games in their countries. It's amazing how cool and friendly people can be even when you only met them earlier that day! The next day found us further exploring some of the famous formations in the bay and lounging on deck chairs catching some rays. It was sad to leave behind such an easy life on the junk, but at least we had another night to look forward to at the Rose Hotel back in Hanoi!
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