11 Nov 2019
Our driver picked us up at 9 am for the 3 hour drive to Ha Long bay. There were two young women from the UK, a couple of Australians, and a Swiss couple in the van with us.
After a coffee stop at an oyster/pearl shop, we were at the pier waiting for the motor boat to take us to the cruise.
I am thinking these are the boats for the budget cruises.
Our boat was a bit flashier.
We got a pretty flash room, with a big bath, balcony etc.
We had lunch in the galley where the crew was introduced to the guests.
The cruise director gave us a run down of timing and itinerary. The only thing I memorised was that happy hour 2 for 1 was 5.30 to 7pm.
We had a short break and were taken kayaking through caves and coves in the afternoon.
The beers for lunch didn't help with balancing the kayak. Luckily we managed to stay in the kayak the whole afternoon.
We did have to to be rescued by the kayak guide when we got stuck on a rock bar.
There was a pile up of kayaks waiting for us to be dislodged.
I was happy to be back on the boat for a refreshing shower, and joining the rest of the guests for happy hour and dinner.
My steak for dinner was pretty horrible. Generally speaking, the vegetables and herbs in Vietnam are exceptional. The freshness, aroma and fragrance are unmatched.
The meat however are a different story. The chicken is so tough and stringy, I reckon these retired egg laying hens could either supply a tyre factory or be our dinner. The beef are from farmed geriatric water buffaloes which should rightly be made into belts and shoes, but we had them for dinner.
It was boomer rock with the Filipino band after dinner, to which the young stayed late and the old, not so much.
12 Nov 2019
There is not a lot to do in Ha Long Bay, so to keep up the illusion of activity, we were taken on a 45 min drive to this cave that was an army hospital during the Vietnam US war.
Able bodied people struggled the steps to get there. So I don't know how the wounded did it. There is no wheel chair access.
The hospital was located in the caves to protect from the B52 bombing of Hai Phong harbour by the Americans.
I suspect this facility is more of a morale boosting exercise for the common soldiers, rather than an effective field hospital.
We were out of there in 20 mins and back on our boat for check out and brunch.
While my feedback was generally positive, I did complain about the hospital cave visit.
We were both confronted about this feedback, much to the amusement of the English girls in our van.
By 3 pm we were back in Hanoi, for some heavy duty shopping of Legend coffee beans and North Face stuff before meeting William for a drink at one of the many sky bars and dinner (for William).
13 Nov 2019
After a very nice breakfast at the Rex Hotel, we were picked up and sent home courtesy of Malindo. A very nice trip indeed, with Hanoi being the highlight.
Our driver picked us up at 9 am for the 3 hour drive to Ha Long bay. There were two young women from the UK, a couple of Australians, and a Swiss couple in the van with us.
We got a pretty flash room, with a big bath, balcony etc.
The cruise director gave us a run down of timing and itinerary. The only thing I memorised was that happy hour 2 for 1 was 5.30 to 7pm.
The beers for lunch didn't help with balancing the kayak. Luckily we managed to stay in the kayak the whole afternoon.
We did have to to be rescued by the kayak guide when we got stuck on a rock bar.
There was a pile up of kayaks waiting for us to be dislodged. 
The meat however are a different story. The chicken is so tough and stringy, I reckon these retired egg laying hens could either supply a tyre factory or be our dinner. The beef are from farmed geriatric water buffaloes which should rightly be made into belts and shoes, but we had them for dinner.
It was boomer rock with the Filipino band after dinner, to which the young stayed late and the old, not so much.
12 Nov 2019
There is not a lot to do in Ha Long Bay, so to keep up the illusion of activity, we were taken on a 45 min drive to this cave that was an army hospital during the Vietnam US war.
The hospital was located in the caves to protect from the B52 bombing of Hai Phong harbour by the Americans.
I suspect this facility is more of a morale boosting exercise for the common soldiers, rather than an effective field hospital.
While my feedback was generally positive, I did complain about the hospital cave visit.
We were both confronted about this feedback, much to the amusement of the English girls in our van.
13 Nov 2019
After a very nice breakfast at the Rex Hotel, we were picked up and sent home courtesy of Malindo. A very nice trip indeed, with Hanoi being the highlight.
No comments:
Post a Comment