And we're back..... Sweet! We finally got to sleep in a little... about 8 AM. Regardless, I was refreshed, recharged and ready for a days worth of activities. First stop, coffee on the top deck while taking in the morning views. I successfully bypassed the chocolate croissants and adhered to Sarah's rule of Asian travel, no chocolate croissants until the end of the trip. Once you start you can't stop, kind of like a pastry version of Lays Potato Chips. One coffee down and then we were being called back to the launch to take us to our day boat. The other guests would head back to port while we went deeper into Halong Bay. I can't recommend this more, if you are in the area and have the time, a 2 night cruise provides you with way more time to enjoy the bay.
Once onboard we had our choice of eggs or chicken or beef pho for breakfast. I was pretty happy with my poached eggs and toast until I saw the fresh made pho coming out to the table. When presented the choice on the last day, I did not make that same mistake again and loaded up on the beef noodle soup. Breakfast was filling and for good reason, we were suddenly pulling up to a mini wharf at Cat Ba island for us to go 'cycling' amongst the hills and valleys. One look at the bikes told me immediately this may pose a bit of a challenge. Singe speed and not originally designed for 6'5" gangly guys from Wisconsin, I probably looked the same as if I had hopped on a 3 year olds tricycle. They were functional though and we were off.
Weaving our way through an inlet from the bay, up and over a crumbling dirt and pebble pass, past a mangrove lake, a few local trail groomers (stray goats) and suddenly we were peddling through rice paddies in a hidden valley. Where did this come from? Another kilometer and we passed through the village in the valley.... if you pretended to ignore the overhead wires and glow of television sets through the open doors, it could have been 300 years ago. Once we reached the edge of town we stopped for a water break and watched a little boy with a bamboo pole hook a bullfrog in a stream. Thinking for sure we had just witnessed dinner being caught (remember, we have eaten jumping chicken ourselves a few times) we were surprised and a little relieved to see it released. The relief vanished, however, when we found out we had to peddle back the way we had come back to the boat. The promise of swimming provided the necessary motivation to keep going.
Kayaking followed for a bit, but ultimately it provided a mode of transportation to our own private beach for an hour. The beaches in Halong Bay are either man made, or small clusters of sand and shells. This was the latter, but you felt like you were carousing on the set of a James Bond film. The rest of the day was a repeat of the evening prior as we had picked up a new crew of passengers. Another delicious dinner followed by some time on the deck before retiring back to our rooms for a final nights rest on the boat. Morning turned out to be rainy so three of us opted out of Tai Chi, climbing and swimming while others picked a version of the three activities they wanted to participate in. Fine, I was amongst the lazy three, the coffee was too good and I had broken the chocolate croissant rule. Content to be idle, we watched the scenery slip by while heading back to harbor. Our driver that had picked us up the first time was waiting to take us back to Hanoi for another 24 hours of adventures before heading back to Singapore to rest and recover for 2 days.
Once onboard we had our choice of eggs or chicken or beef pho for breakfast. I was pretty happy with my poached eggs and toast until I saw the fresh made pho coming out to the table. When presented the choice on the last day, I did not make that same mistake again and loaded up on the beef noodle soup. Breakfast was filling and for good reason, we were suddenly pulling up to a mini wharf at Cat Ba island for us to go 'cycling' amongst the hills and valleys. One look at the bikes told me immediately this may pose a bit of a challenge. Singe speed and not originally designed for 6'5" gangly guys from Wisconsin, I probably looked the same as if I had hopped on a 3 year olds tricycle. They were functional though and we were off.
Kayaking followed for a bit, but ultimately it provided a mode of transportation to our own private beach for an hour. The beaches in Halong Bay are either man made, or small clusters of sand and shells. This was the latter, but you felt like you were carousing on the set of a James Bond film. The rest of the day was a repeat of the evening prior as we had picked up a new crew of passengers. Another delicious dinner followed by some time on the deck before retiring back to our rooms for a final nights rest on the boat. Morning turned out to be rainy so three of us opted out of Tai Chi, climbing and swimming while others picked a version of the three activities they wanted to participate in. Fine, I was amongst the lazy three, the coffee was too good and I had broken the chocolate croissant rule. Content to be idle, we watched the scenery slip by while heading back to harbor. Our driver that had picked us up the first time was waiting to take us back to Hanoi for another 24 hours of adventures before heading back to Singapore to rest and recover for 2 days.
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