Hanoi and Halong

Tuesday, we had an early rise (about 5:30) so we could finish packing
have showers and breakfast and then check out in time for our ride to
Halong Bay. Actually, 5:30 here is 8:30 in Brisbane, so it wasn't really
early for us.

We needn't have rushed. We were expecting our car to arrive at 7:30, it
was just after 8:30 by the time we left the hotel. He turned up while I
was out the front photographing the traffic.

Getting out of Hanoi was probably the first time we'd really experienced
the traffic properly, with scooters coming close enough to the car that
I could have leaned out the window and easily touched the riders. It
thinned out a bit once we got out of the city, but there was still a lot
of traffic all the way to Halong which took about three and a half
hours. After a while you get used to the sight of a car on the wrong
side of the road, coming straight at you with its headlights flashing as
it tries to overtake some slower traffic.

The boat we had booked for the cruise is the Emeraude. It's a replica of
one of the old French paddles steamers that used to sail around the area
back in the twenties. It's probably the most expensive cruise on the
bay, but well worth it.

We were met on the boat with cocktails,something orange and red that
tasted of pineapple. After that, and a quick safety briefing, we were
given our cabin key. Most of the people on the cruise had all their
luggage with them. As we were going back to the same hotel in Hanoi,
we'd only taken the essentials and left the rest back at the hotel. That
meant we didn't have to wait for our bags as we were carrying them.

We had lunch pretty much straight away, a huge buffet with really nice
food, accompanied by an Australian chardonnay. The service from the
staff was fantastic and very friendly.

First stop was at the cave of Hang Dau Go. For someone like myself who
is studying geology, this was fascinating. There is an interesting
stalagmite in there that resembles a part of the male anatomy. Now, I
don't mean if you squint a bit and turn your head the right way you can
imagine it looking like that. As soon as you see it you think, my god,
that's a huge dick.

After the cave visit we headed to our anchorage for the night, where
some brave souls actually went for a swim, keep in mind that it's winter
here.

Just before dinner there was a quick cooking demonstration on how to
make Vietnamese spring rolls. I can honestly say, I didn't do too bad a
job of it when I had a go.

Dinner was another huge and delicious buffet, this time with a nice
French pinot noir which we finished up on deck, followed by tea, coffee
and a glass each of Benedictine

I'll probably repeat this over and over, but if you ever get to Halong
Bay, take the Emeraude cruise, you won't regret it. I'll add a link to
their website in my sidebar once I get back home and can access the
server properly. It seems that any website related to that big search
engine is blocked from here.