Halong Bay

Our next adventure was a three day, two night cruise on Halong Bay.  This is a spectacular looking series of small, steep, limestone islands a few hours outside of Hanoi.  All 41 of us took over a  “junk”, which was to be our home for the next few days.

We immediately set off into the bay, and everywhere we went we were surrounded by these spectacular islets.  During our cruise, we did a couple of kayak adventures into some sea caves, explored the ginormous “surprise cave”, visited the remains of a waterborne fishing village, and had a little beach time for a swim.  Just being on the boat and watching the scenery continually change through the bedroom or dining room window was a unique, special experience.

Halong Bay

Kayaking to the caves

With spotty internet access on board, the kids took to playing non-electronic games with each other, and the adults got to chat and get to know each other better. The lack of connectivity made it a little easier for everyone to relax, but at times we had some glimmers of internet, and some people (like me) quickly jumped on to catch up with customers and emails.

The food on board was good. We had a variety of Vietnamese food - heavy on seafood - and there was some western style grub as well. Two-for-one happy hour was a hit, and I even got a great massage on board.

Upon leaving the boat, we had a few extra hours to kill en route before catching a plane, and our guide happened to find a very authentic Vietnamese restaurant a few miles from the airport.  As we walked in, there were 40 or 50 baby chicks in little crate cages, some marinating frogs arranged Escher-like in big glass jars, and a menu with pictures of unusual things, so we knew that we were going to get something unique.  We were seated on an outdoor patio overlooking a lake. To keep us cool, the restaurant had some sort of pumping system that sprayed water on the tin roof, in such a way that it sounded like a torrential rainstorm.  (At first, we couldn’t figure out what it was). The meal was quite good: We tried horse meat with lemongrass seasoning, as well as some excellent deep fried fish, noodles and a few other things.  Lots of beer too.  We chowed down. At the end, the total with tip and beer was $6/person.  The restaurant staff was thrilled.

Escher inspired jar of frogs