Halong Bay

Our 3 day 2 night Halong Bay tour took a little longer than expected. During the bus 4 hour bus ride from Hanoi we encountered heavy winds and rain, which the locals referred to as a minor typhoon although it didn't seem that severe to us. By the time we reached the harbour the rain had subsided but the massive crowds standing around was an indicator of trouble and we soon found out that the Harbour Commission was not allowing any tour boats to depart due to the high winds. Our tour guide took us all to lunch (15 people) and we waited there until 3 pm when the decision was made that no boats were going out that day. Everyone was then loaded onto a bus for the return trip to Hanoi. We were told that we would only be charged for the bus trip and lunch, and that we could get the rest of our money back from the individual tour companies that people had booked their trips through. About 5 minutes into the journey we realized that we were making a mistake by returning to Hanoi since we had the time (flexible schedule) to still do our trip and we could avoid two 4 hour bus rides by staying in Halong. We quickly discussed our plan with the tour guide and 5 minutes later they flagged down a bus heading in the other direction and helped us get on that bus explaining the situation to the driver who dropped us off in Halong (at no charge). From that point we took a slightly wild motorcycle taxi ride (no helmets for us and the shortest route was the wrong way on one-way roads including the highway exit ramp) back to the harbour area where we found accommodation for the night. We connected on-line with our favourite tour campany in Hanoi and were not only assured that our trip could start over the next day but that there would be no charges for the first attempt which went awry with mother nature.

We woke up the next morning to discover only a light breeze, so we walked over the harbour for noon to meet our new group of friends for 3 days. The Halong Bay cruise turned out to be another trip highlight. Our cabin was a decent size with it's own bathroom and shower and the food was good and plentiful. Beyond cruising amongst many of the thousands of limestone pillar islands, we made stops at an Oyster Farm (to see the pearl harvesting process), a floating village (with it's own school), an island (for a steep hike to the top for a magnificent view) and a visit to the massive Hang Sung Sot cave. We also had 3 kayaking opportunities which took us through some smaller water caves that led to beautiful lagoons on the other side. Squid fishing was also available in the evenings but Rhonda's PEI cod-fishing successes were not repeated on this trip although a young man from the UK kept our boat from being shut-out. We had a lot of fun and interesting conversations with some good people from around the world.

When we arrived back in Hanoi our travel company had a parting gift for us......a silk tie for me and a silk scarf for Rhonda.......totally unexpected and not necessary since we certainly received more than our money's worth on our two trips with them (and paid less than anyone else who asked us about costs). We will return the favour by providing a very favourable review for their business on Trip Advisor.

We took a flight this morning to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. With just over 200,000 people and spread out it certainly doesn't seem like a major city and we found it very easy to walk around the main part of town today. Tomorrow we will rent a bicycle and explore more of it's historic sites.