Mulloskeys Adventures Abroad

Another early morning van ride and 3 hours to our port at Ha Long Bay… Along the way we enjoyed some cool sights, like downtown Hanoi and traffic chaos that bordered on impossible to drive through. I would have loved to have stopped the van to get some more video but alas, the pics I got were too fuzzy as the road conditions did not favour a steady hand. One that I wish I had gotten was along the highway just outside of the downtown core where every 100m , for about 20km, stood a woman with bags of bread. People would just stop in the middle of the road to procure their daily baguette. It was a long drive in another van unsuitable for a person of my carriage. Incredible sights greeted us especially when, like at the perfume pagoda, the mountains seemed to rise out of nowhere. Ha Long Bay translates to ‘bay where the dragon descends into the sea’… Legend has it that when Vietnam was at war with the Chinese the gods sent a family of dragons to help protect the land. They began to spit jewels and jade into the water which formed the limestone pillars that jut out of the emerald green water and fortified the coast against the invaders from the north. Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the home of a special kind of boat that tourists easily associate with this part of the world, converted or newly built for lodging, dining and sightseeing… the junk boat. They were pretty cool, kind of mini motels. When we walked out on the pier the first thing we noticed was just how many boats there were… hundreds and hundreds. See if you can distinguish single boats in the tangled mass of wooden masts, decks and sails.

Here’s a problem to wrap your head around… There isn’t enough room at the dock for all the boats. So they fight for position and they are stacked 4 deep. Sort of like being double parked, except 4 deep and not parallel - a total mishmash (take another look at the pics above). So we are at the dock and we need to get out. Another boat is approaching and wants to get in - what to do? You bump, push, and ram other boats out of the way. Like bumper-boats but with 45-foot, hundred ton wooden vessels. You can hear the creaking, smashing and splintering over the roar of the diesel engine. This is our first impression. Don’t worry - we are about to have the time of our lives, it’s just the traffic chaos of Vietnam applies to boats too (thankfully not airplanes).

First order of business: cocktails in the dining room. We meet our fellow 14 guests and are assigned out room. Erin and I get 1 of 2 sweet rooms off the 2 level adjacent the dining room/bar, while everyone else is relegated to windowless cabins on the bottom deck. Our room was small but wonderfully cozy and with a bathroom and shower. Best of all, being a corner room we had windows both was giving us a full panorama. A funny story later… Here is the room and me right before “business” time. Erin is standing at the door taking both pics.. it was quite small.

We walked up to the 3rd deck which was a patio/lookout/lounge. As we sailed toward our approaching view of the stunning islands of Ha Long Bay we looked at each other and smiled knowing we had made a great choice.
One of the best parts of traveling is the people you meet along the way. Since December/January is summer break for Kiwis and Aussies, we met a ton. Peter, Susan and their 4 children made our voyage extra entertaining. A man who loves beer more than me, and a daughter who knew more Simpsons quotes than me… what a fantastic combination. Our banter back and forth served to prove to her parents that she was watching way too much TV - sorry). In addition were Monica and Herman (a.k.a. the Herminator - though I never gave him that nickname - a 75 year old dutch man wouldn’t get it) and 4 French people who didn’t talk to us and that’s the way they liked it. Here are the Aussies. Note they had left 40-degree plus summer weather the day before… they were freezing.

Our first destination were the Sung Sot caves ‘Grotte des Merveilles’. Discovered in 1993 by a fisherman fleeing a Typhoon, word of the size and magnificence of these caves soon spread until they were opened as a national park site two years later. Long gone are the native monkeys and bats of the island (sadly and not so sadly in retrospect). The caves have been lit by several colours in all directions. At first I thought it a wonderful sight, highlighting the shapes and contours and reminding me of some of my disco days. But after a while one yearns for a more authentic lighting scheme that is less reminiscent of a neighbor’s Christmas decorations. Either way the cave is spectacular and simply massive. The lighting does help me share some pictures with you.

Here is a video which shows just how huge this place ways. Unfortunately, it also shows how crowded it was:

(Video under construction - currently too big to post on YouTube…)
More bumping and pushing away from the dock and we were free. Ha Long Bay is over 1,500 square km and has just under 2,000 islands, so after leaving the popular caves we were pretty much on our own. We headed in for lunch and chat with our fellow sailors. Fresh seafood (squid and shrimp) was served Vietnamese style and it was tasty. For the next hour we took in our first views of inside the bay area and were in total awe. Very James Bond-ish. One of those situations where you don’t even know what to take a picture of. Every moment was more beautiful than the next. It was the rainy season so overcast clouds were our constant companion - but we kind of liked it that way. (Note: the beauty merits mostly full sized pics here.. sorry for the extra scrolling)…

Our next stop was at a floating fishing village. Remember these guys are an hour from the mainland. They trade fish for supplies and spend all their time on their tiny floating houses and boats. But life is normal enough. Kids are playing, dogs running (up and down the dock) and friendly people waiving.

This guys lives in the equivalent of the suburbs…

Near the village were some cool grottoes and caves only accessible by small boat. For a ridiculously overpriced fee, a local will take you there. Our Vietnamese crew explained that children will row you and the money goes to the local school. Sounds good but the kids weren’t rowing, just one dude taking all the money in a tiny, seriously leaking, motor boat. Before boarding we were approached by locals in row boat selling fresh produce. It was like something out of a National Geographic - woman and small children, Vietnamese hats, and the most beautiful looking fruit I had ever seen.

The moment is spoiled a bit by a second boat selling Pringles, Coke, bottled water and beer (I only mention the beer because it was warm). The kids had a beautiful smile that turned into a horrible scowl if you didn’t buy anything.

And here is the scowl:

We enjoyed a 20 minute tour of the grottoes and caves. The boat was too small for the 16 of us so I struggled to get good pics that didn’t have some dude’s head in it. It was so cool to think that my childhood was spent playing in parks and forests. The locals here played/swam in these caves.

So you may be thinking what about school? It’s no life for a child to be working all the time and doomed to be a fisherman like their parents. Well this town had it all. This is the local school, apparently made possible through some British charitable organization. Any self respecting insensitive jerk like me couldn’t help at least one crack about recess or something of that nature. Still… I found myself conflicted between feeling very sad for these kids and feeling very impressed that I was looking at a real floating school. Anyway, that’s just my North American-centric view of what a school should look like shining through…

Also we got some great close-ups of the village while on the little boat. It was so interesting to see how people lived this way.

Our Vietnamese crew told us that the dogs were kept as pets and then eaten as a source of iron (as they only ate fish). But he had a look in his eye that could have said “I tell all the dumb tourists this and then go have a laugh in the back about the look on their faces”.

Another hour of sailing and another set of amazing sights and photo ops. As we approached our next floating village we were pleased to see some of the boats had put their sails up. This really made us feel like were .. well.. exactly where we were.

Sorry - but there is much more natural beauty to show you here on our way to the next stop. As it got darker the reflection on the water made for even better pics.

A tiny inlet revealed not so much a floating village but a floating “rest stop” where only a handful of families lived. Here there was a floating bar and kayaks. Erin and I decided to give it a go. Remember that though tropical it was only about 15 degrees and we had a chill. The water was warm but did nothing to alleviate our fears of getting wet. Nonetheless, the experience of propelling ourselves amidst the natural beauty of endless massive cliffs was well worth it. We got back to the floating bar and decided to have a few drinks. Poor Susan, our Aussie friend, was watching as they were pulling some squid out of the traps built into in the floor of the floating dock (which dipped into the water of course). As it was lifted out of the water it sprayed ink all over her white pants and shoes. She was in good spirits and it was a hell of a laugh.

The beers on the boat were very fairly priced. Which, by Vietnam standards was a rip-off. So we opted to hit up the bar (styrofoam cooler with toothless old lady and 3 plastic tables on a shoddy wooden dock) and save pennies on beer. It was so relaxing. It was another of those perfect moments that seemed to last for years. Unfortunately, I left the camera on the boat so the perfect moment is in me noggin and not in the 8 million pictures you’ve seen and to come.

Bang. Boom. Smash. And we pulled out of our spot on the 6 foot dock. A quick ride to a spectacular bay just as it was getting dark. We were greeted by almost 100 similar boats dotting the bay whose distant lights brought an added romantic aura to the atmosphere.

Dinner time and ABBA time arrived simultaneously. It seems the group just made it to southeast Asia and our crew were loving it. After 3 runs of the tape, we were finally given a refreshing break of Celine Dion and Brian Adams - Mamma Mia!!! It didn’t matter. We had a blast hanging with Peter and Susan and some chilly time above deck. The crew slept on the floor and by midnight were sending more than subtle hints that it was time for decent people to be in bed.

Morning came and with it sunshine! A surprisingly clear sky, sun peaking over the mountain, and cool boats in the foreground, made for some great pics. These we taken right from our bedroom window.

In order to get a good view for the sun and bay I had previously tied the troublesome curtains out of the way. They had kept falling down during the night and morning and I finally found a secure way of keeping them tied off. So now for the story I alluded to earlier about the windows. Erin and I enjoyed a refreshing shower and stepped back out into our room. I noticed the sun looks beautiful and decided to grab a quick photo. Just then a boat slowly (ever so slowly) sailed by and it was quite close. On deck were about 50 people looking right in our window. Erin is screaming “Sean! Sean! Get the f*@#ing curtains!” Unfortunately the room is so small there is no where to hide. I try and try but cannot untie what I had earlier secured. After about 30 seconds of fighting, panicking, and seeing 50 people point, laugh, and take pictures of us, we gave up trying to hide ourselves. Then, together (this is why I love Erin), without saying anything we waved and took a bow. (Here you can see the boat approaching left side, right before I drop the camera and struggle with the curtain)…

After a nice breakfast we pulled anchor and started the 2 hour sail home. Taking another route we saw even more stunning sights and took even more pictures. (In case you can’t tell from the photos… it was really windy)..

It was nice seeing it in the sunlight, even as it started to cloud over slowly. A quick stop at an oyster farm to drop off supplies granted us some more great photo opportunities….

Here is a video of our favourite part of the journey - a cool an very high pass.

On shore, waiting for our van we bought some rambutans off a local. I’m sure you have seen these in a store or exotic fruit stand in Canada. Arguably, they are the most beautiful looking fruits in the world. Opening them is simple. A crack will open it cleanly and inside the taste is spectacular. Especially being fresh and in season. I fear that back in Canada they won;t taste the same at all - like tomatoes from Mexico. I hope not - they were amazing and you can see the enjoyment on my face.

I finished with the photo of my favourite place on the trip and what I believe to be the best of the lot. Thanks for reading.

If you have any desire at all to see more… Check out Ha Long Bay in the photos section of the site.