Posted by: Jenn
Well, I must say that Vietnam is a breath of fresh air (not literally) for me after South America. While we were in the states, I couldn't stress to my family enough how tired I was of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). Jonathan was a fan - it was cheap and easy to find, me - not so much. So here, I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed the wide variety of noodles with veggies and beef (of course I avoid the chicken - Mistee, you would be proud). The spring rolls are excellent and the street stalls selling sandwiches with pork, tomatoes, onions and lettuce are to die for. And you can't forget the costs - like wow, Jonathan and I could retire here today. Now, going back to the "breath of fresh air" - the air is not fresh. In fact, 90% of Vietnamese people walk around with nose and mouth covers so that they don't breath in the awful pollution. These masks are a part of their daily wardrobe and they wear them as you would a hat or necklace. I thought it was interesting how many people wore them and how they accessorize with them - we almost feel left out!
Anyways, I am supposed to be filling you in on Halong Bay. So we booked a two day, one night boat tour to explore the bay. We were picked up from our hostel in Hanoi by a tourist van and were driven the three hours to Halong Bay. Once in Halong City we were filtered through the massive amounts of tourists to our boat, Dream Voyage, giggity giggity. We boarded with about ten other tourists and started our dream voyage into the misty morning.
Well, I must say that Vietnam is a breath of fresh air (not literally) for me after South America. While we were in the states, I couldn't stress to my family enough how tired I was of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). Jonathan was a fan - it was cheap and easy to find, me - not so much. So here, I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed the wide variety of noodles with veggies and beef (of course I avoid the chicken - Mistee, you would be proud). The spring rolls are excellent and the street stalls selling sandwiches with pork, tomatoes, onions and lettuce are to die for. And you can't forget the costs - like wow, Jonathan and I could retire here today. Now, going back to the "breath of fresh air" - the air is not fresh. In fact, 90% of Vietnamese people walk around with nose and mouth covers so that they don't breath in the awful pollution. These masks are a part of their daily wardrobe and they wear them as you would a hat or necklace. I thought it was interesting how many people wore them and how they accessorize with them - we almost feel left out!
Anyways, I am supposed to be filling you in on Halong Bay. So we booked a two day, one night boat tour to explore the bay. We were picked up from our hostel in Hanoi by a tourist van and were driven the three hours to Halong Bay. Once in Halong City we were filtered through the massive amounts of tourists to our boat, Dream Voyage, giggity giggity. We boarded with about ten other tourists and started our dream voyage into the misty morning.
Jonathan and I had our own room and bathroom on the boat, which was also nice after staying in so many dorm rooms in South America. I'm not quite sure how clean the bed was, but we'll pretend like it was clean for the sake of painting a really nice picture of our boat tour.
Our first stop was to a cave in one of the karsts. For those who are unsure as to what karst landscape is, in layman's terms (because that's what I understand when it's not math), it is a landform created as a result of water eroding rock.
After the cave we were served lunch. My noodles and beef comment doesn't really apply for the boat trip...we were served fish, which I have never liked, and rice... I picked at the rice and at some of the veggies then supplemented lunch with some snacks we brought from the states - good 'ole granola bars, crackers and beef jerky. Jonathan enjoyed the lunch because he is a garbage disposal. We then cruised through the bay and soaked up the unique views.
We stopped that night after cruising for a few hours and set anchor. Dinner was served shortly after and guess what it was?! Fish and rice...wow!!!! After some more bars and crackers we retired for the night.
That next morning we were served a breakfast of eggs and bread and then were taken to a floating fishing village to borrow their kayaks for an hour. While kayaking we observed the many floating fishing villages. They were crazy to see. They are a string of houses that float and are tied to rocks or anchored down. The houses' backyard consists of nets and barrels where fish are bread and raised to be sold in town.
We kayaked through the villages and karsts for about an hour before we had to return to our boat. Kayaking was my favorite part of the tour because the experience became way more personal by getting to kayak right up to the rock face or front door of a house.
The boat then took us back to Halong City where we enjoyed a non-fish lunch at a local restaurant. I'm not sure if the food was actually really good or if we were just excited to have something other than fish and rice. The restaurant also had an interesting way of decorating their checkout counter... and yes the liquid is drinkable and sold as a shot...
The boat then took us back to Halong City where we enjoyed a non-fish lunch at a local restaurant. I'm not sure if the food was actually really good or if we were just excited to have something other than fish and rice. The restaurant also had an interesting way of decorating their checkout counter... and yes the liquid is drinkable and sold as a shot...
After a hearty lunch we were taken back to our hostel in Hanoi. We booked a sleeper train ticket to take us due South.