One of the seven new natural wonders of the world welcomed us
after a bumpy three hour mini bus ride from Hanoi. We were on our way to Halong
Party Cruises for a two day one night cruise though the famed Halong Bay. We
were joined by some very relaxed British lads and gals, a group of young
Norwegian backpackers and two German girls. The moment we were on the boat the
first rule was introduced by our guide Tchin, “if you have your drink in your
right hand and someone yells ‘BUFFALO’ you must finish your drink.” A big shout
out must go to young Dazzle and Marky B here as I was well prepared to avoid being
caught (mainly because I refuse to accept I have been caught and will stubbornly
sip my drink until everyone forgets, thanks boys).
Halong Bay is one of the most beautiful places we have seen
on this trip. The story of how it is formed was quite original as well, it
goes, “Once a big drought took over Vietnam as the Dragons would not come down
to earth (Vietnamese Dragons bring water not fire), so a farmer decided to
steal one of the Dragons fairies and lock her in a cave in Halong Bay. This
made the Dragon so mad that it shook with fury and flew at a remarkable speed
down to earth and smashed all the cliffs into pieces, scattering them through
the bay. When the dragon got to the bay he discovered the fairy wasn’t there
(she actually had already been saved by someone else, who I can’t remember
right now) this caused the Dragon to cry and cry and fill the bay with its
tears, thus ending the drought.” The scientific reason is much more boring as
the cliffs were simply caused by the collision of tectonic plates at random
intervals. Vietnamese stories are way cooler than science.
Anywho kayaking was to follow and I must say if there is ever an Olympic sport
of kayaking around a giant bay, do not let Emma and I into the team as we
managed to dry dock ourselves on a rock mid-way through a cave (personally I
blame Emma, she was at the front and therefore in control of navigation). Many
laughs were had at our expense by everyone else on the boat, as they all
managed to navigate the same cave with ease. That night was filled with
drinking, travel stories and ridiculously good food. Many friends were made on
the cruise that we hope to catch up with around the world.
