The Goldstones - Ross and Mel: Halong Bay

Our final day in Halong Bay was quite a chilled one. We had the usual wake up for breakfast procedure, and then some passengers got on the 'second day' boat to enjoy the oyster and pearl farm and the kayaking, which we did the day before. We lazily packed our bags and checked that we had everything, as the junk sailed across the bay, navigating the incredible out-crops all around us.

Once we had all of our luggage in order, we strolled upstairs to the dining room, and enjoyed the beauty around us from the shade. Our tour guide called for all of us to move to the upper deck in anticipation of the passing of one of the most famous islets in Halong Bay - The Kissing Cocks. He seemed pretty excited about this particular islet, and explained that it is even the inspiration for the official logo of the Greater Halong Bay Management Department. So there we stood, cameras at the ready, waiting for this magnificent islet that is so important to Halong Bay. As we approached a teeny-tiny rock, the guide told us to get ready and he identified it as The Kissing Cocks - needless to say, we were a little surprised. However, as we continued past the little islet, we began to appreciate it more. It really does look like two chickens kissing!

Halong Bay's famous 'Kissing Cocks'

We asked our tour guide where we were actually going, and he told us that we were headed to the floating fishing village. We were fortunate to be going when we were, because the government had announced that this village was going to be dismantled, and that its inhabitants would be relocated to the mainland where the government would provide them with houses. This is because the pollution within Halong Bay is becoming a problem, so this is an effort to counteract that pressing issue. (We don't know the progress of this decision, and whether is was carried out.)

The village is situated within a massive, circular 'bay' which has a relatively small entrance. This protects the village from the weather. There are some docking areas which are a bunch of wooden platforms supported by floating barrels (just like the rafts which we had to build on school leadership courses). Some of these platforms held buildings such as homes and even a school! Others served as a place for the fishing families to dock their boats.

We had to take a smaller boat into the village, while our big one stayed right by the entrance with its sails up, looking majestic (clearly a perfect advertising opportunity!). When we arrived, we congregated on one section of platforms, and waited to be told what the plan was. Our guide told us that we had two options: spend a short time kayaking (relative freedom to explore where you choose to), or being rowed around - on a little row boat - by one of the inhabitants of the fishing village (more relaxing and safer for the camera equipment). We had been kayaking the day before (in a much quieter, cleaner and more impressive area), so we opted for the second option.

So we donned our bright orange life-jackets and claimed a row boat. The lady started to maneuver the boat out of the scrum, of other boats and tourists, which was a slow and bumpy procedure. Finally she managed to get our boat free and we started racing the other ten or so boats around us, across the stretch of water to a distant cave entrance. Our lady was in no particular rush, so it wasn't long before we conceded defeat and began snapping shots of our surroundings. Mel and Lisa (our trip photo posers) posed patiently with their beautiful smiles, while Cam and I tried to get 'the perfect shot'. Our 'oarslady' (clearly happy to get to a site last, and therefore ensure that we would have HUNDREDS of other people in any of our photos) stopped along the way to buy some breakfast from one of the 'mobile vendors' who row around selling all sorts of goodies.

We were taken through some caves and into some adjacent bays, before we were chauffeured back to the platform where we started. This was a really busy part of the Halong trip, as the tourist boats arrive in their hordes to drop off their passengers for an experience like the one we had.

The Floating Fishing Village

Being rowed around on a little row-boat

Our junk looking majestic

The sails are only raised for advertising purposes, when the boat is parked in high-traffic areas

Once back on the big boat, we started the trip back to land. To pass the time, we had a hands-on demonstration on how to make spring rolls. They would be used to feed the passengers that evening, during their sun downers on the upper deck. Once on land, there was some customary waiting around and eventually we hopped on a bus back to Hanoi (but not before Mel picked up a 1 Pound coin off the floor - score!).

Making spring rolls

Once back in Hanoi, we checked into our hotels (separate buildings again!) and then headed to Hồ Hoàn Kiếm Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword). There are a number of restaurants around this lake, and travel agents. Cam and Lisa were wanting to book a trip to Sapa the next day, so they shopped around and we took the opportunity to chill next to the lake and watch all of the local Hanoians exercising.

After Cam and Lisa had found the best deal, we met with them once again and began our search for a suitable restaurant. We ended up walking past a shop that sells SO many bags! Cam was so impressed that he made us pose to take photos. Sadly, we didn't have our camera with us so we couldn't snap any pics. Eventually, we found a street side pho stand which was loaded with locals, so we figured it must be good. We were greeted by a friendly man, who spoke a reasonable amount of English. We sat down around our tiny, plastic table and ordered some pho and beers. They were both amazing! This was our good bye to Cam and Lisa... for now.

The next morning we had to go to the South African Embassy to get a sworn affidavit for Mel, and get our fingerprints done for new police clearances (for our work permits). This took most of the morning, but it was really nice to be in a place that resembled home - even if it was only for a few hours. While we were there, we saw a friendly girl (who had just written a UNISA exam) and she asked if we were planning on visiting South Africa. Once we started talking, she realised her mistake and we got chatting about home. She even invited us to lunch, which was really nice of her.

So once we were finished at the Embassy, we met Yvettee, her fiance and her friend for some street food - chicken and rice. Once again, we were seated at the standard, tiny, plastic tables on the sidewalk as we enjoyed the delicious (and massive) portion of chicken and rice served to us.

The rest of our day consisted of a visit to The Women's Museum, drinking coffee, getting foot massages, beers at an awesome pub called Cong Caphe and our most terrifying taxi ride yet! We are so very grateful to have made it to the airport in one piece, as the taxi driver swerved in and out of traffic, over-taking on the yellow line, missing pedestrians and other road users by centimeters and driving at ridiculous speeds. But we got there, which was a relief.

Our flight ended up being delayed twice, and we got home after midnight. These two exhausted birdies crashed hard, but are happy to be making happy memories.