How long (Hà Nôi to Ha Long Bay, Vietnam)

Today dear reader we leave the anarchy and chaos of Hà Nôi for the peace and serenity of Ha Long Bay. The bay is the inspiration (or otherwise) for today's title. Another trek down memory lane to 1974 with UK band Ace and their hit How long.

It is one of those early starts, the first of many I fear. Loitering over my second coffee at breakfast has gone the way of the relevance of the Liberal Party to Australian politics. A mere memory. Perhaps in Cambodia when we farewell the tour group, our more relaxed lifestyle will return.

Bags tagged and put out for collection, we went to breakfast and then boarded the bus to head to Ha Long Bay. Overnight our family had grown by two as we were joined by a Kiwi couple who had had the holiday start from hell. They had arrived in Singapore to be informed that they could not proceed onto Vietnam because their visas did not have sufficient time on them. Apparently, they expired one day before they were due to leave Vietnam.

While the problem was sorted, they had to find somewhere to stay for 5 days before they could join the tour. They finally arrived at the hotel last night and so our group now totals 13 until we get to Ho Chi Minh City where we will be joining a larger group for the Mekong cruise.

Our 3.5 hour bus ride took us out of Hà Nôi away from what we could now see as a very smoggy environment, to the clearer countryside, past farms, ducks, small communities, rice paddy burial sites, ducks, rice paddies, and some larger towns. Did I mention there were ducks?

Our tour guide, Tea, punctuated the journey with stories about his childhood and family as well as some of his adult life in the big city. He is a very engaging storyteller and his personal anecdotes give insight into the Vietnamese culture and traditions which are so different to ours.

Tea, our tour guide.

He also provides context to particular features, at first unnoticed but then, once pointed out, apparent everywhere - like the fact that most Vietnamese houses are built with no side windows, only front and back ones. This is because everyone lives in such close proximity that no one wants to look out their window and see their next-door neighbour all the time (so Tea says anyway).

For that special room.

After about 90 minutes travel, it was time for a rest stop at a centre in a mining town that, for a number of reasons, is known as Red Star . It is a centre that was a target of ‘possession’ a number of times throughout history because of its valuable commodity – the name therefore denotes the struggle to defend it as a part of Vietnam, the blood that was shed and also the products of the mines – many precious gems, including the unique star ruby. This ruby, when held under a light, reveals a star emanating from its lustre. It is quite amazing.

Hard at work.

Our rest stop was at a centre which has been established as a social enterprise to provide training and employment for soldiers’ children who have a disability and would otherwise struggle to find work in a culture that heavily defines itself by productivity.

In this centre, young people are producing intricate works of embroidery, ceramics, clothes, jewellery and food. We wandered through watching them create their pieces which are then on display for purchase. One embroidery piece can take a month to complete, depending on its size and detail. Initially, this social concept came to life after the American War in which many people were genetically affected by the wanton spraying of agent orange across the area.

Jayne almost knocked me over in her eagerness to see the star rubies. Purely to see stones because they are so unusual. Not because she wanted to add one to her jewellery collection. There was a vast array of rings, earrings, pendants in both yellow and white gold. The star was indeed clearly visible under the light displays. Jayne selected a pendant but it was set in yellow gold – “No problem, our jewellers will reset it for you in white gold while you look around the centre.” That provided time for a couple of additional purchases and then the pendant came back reset, boxed with its certificate of authenticity. The Pandora disappointment of earlier in the week was wiped from memory. At least until we reach Ho Chi Minh.

It's a bit blurry, but you get the idea.

Back on the bus, we headed to Ha Long Bay where we were greeted at the Bhaya Cruise Centre at the marina. This is a waiting lounge for passengers to transit to and from the Ha Long cruise boats. It was very crowded, noisy and chaotic, so Hà Nôi, but thankfully we were not there very long before we were called to board the Àu Co II (pronounced ochre). The brief excitement here was due to an internet connection. The excitement and internet connection were both brief.

There is a lot of unfinished development.

We had already been given our cabin key so after passing through the traditional drum welcome on board, we went to our cabin to ensure our luggage had arrived. Once all was located, we headed upstairs for the welcome, introductions, orientation and safety briefing. The cabin is more spacious than anticipated and the air conditioning most welcome.

A king sized bed.

The verandah.

Lunch was then served, a four-course menu, as we cruised towards the south east part of the bay. It was immediately apparent that this is a very busy waterway with cruise ships and tankers everywhere. The waters are very calm and you are surrounded by limestone formations rising out of the water, most with sheer vertical sides. The mountains are thinly covered by vegetation, some sporting caves, where the waters have eaten the soft limestone. It is very beautiful but doesn’t quite live up to the ‘hollywood’ shots I’ve seen. The persistent haze removed any sharpness from the view.

Ok, it's colour enhanced.

These natural features provided some of the onboard offerings such as an afternoon visit to a small cave to walk through to a beach for swimming. The more energetic could go kayaking around the area. We elected to stay on board and enjoy the views from the deck. There was a bigger cave on offer tomorrow morning.

The 'small' cave.

After changing for dinner, the ship sailed to its anchor point for the night and everyone gathered on the bar/restaurant deck for happy hour, accompanied by a masterclass in spring roll making.

Another one.

Another four-course meal was served. We certainly won’t go hungry; this is an APT tour. The after-dinner experience - a Vietnamese rice wine tasting. Interesting. Wine? Not really. Saké. No. Liqueur? Most definitely. The lowest alcohol content was 28%. The taste varied with the product, obviously, although the ‘wine’ made from bark tasted like dirt. However, it had a medicinal element. It improves a bad back. So I drank Jayne’s as well. There was another that was strongly coconut flavoured and the pick of the bunch was Honey-Rose wine. The fourth one was as forgettable as the bark wine.

Sunset on the bay.

“Wine” that strong will ensure a good night’s sleep. After another busy day, we retired to our cabin to sleep in the quiet of the bay.

Until next time, if I can find an internet connection.