Ha Long Bay (Part 1)

“Its like something out of a James Bond movie“–My pharmacist in Killiney 2 weeks before my trip to Vietnam

After a few weeks of classes in Hanoi, it didn’t take long before the group of teachers were thinking of weekend breaks away from Hanoi. It was fast becoming clear that the city had grey skies that rarely gave way, and Trung Hoa had only so much adventure.

Louis Hood had been organizing a plan to visit Ha Long bay for a few weeks, and was definitely a solid planner. He had booked a full section of Oasis Bay cruise for our group based on numbers and arranged a time at Gemini coffee to give him the couple of million dong it cost to pay. He even got a minibus sorted to pick us all up from the main accommodation, so that was handy!

Rooms seemed to be booked based on which houses were hanging out and would have 3-4 people in them. The lads had already got their group so I would have a room with Rebecca and Chris. At the time I hadn’t got to know Chris as well as the others but he seemed likeable enough so it was as good a time as any to catch up.

The day of the trip began on Saturday morning, with the minibus outside the BME main accommodation. I was all ready to roll; I brought my camera, my swimming shorts, the crap but waterproof gopro, the MP3 player for the journey and a wad of cash to keep me going through the 2 day tour. A boat isn’t going to be the easiest place to take money out.

I got on the bus, somewhat tired but doing alright. What I didn’t realize was how late a lot of other teachers were. Bethan wasn’t feeling well but with enough encouragement she got on. Fairplay to her for doing so.

The bus departed, escaping the misty Hanoi, but also taking a while to get to Ha Long. Despite being around 170km away, it took a good few hours and a stop over to get to the bay. In Ireland that distance would be covered in just under 90 minutes. It didn’t help that we stopped at a pearl shop nearby. I had got used to these sort of places appearing midway through a trip from the Jade factories in Beijing. They only really exist to rip off tourists, and this felt like no exception. Despite having nice pearl collection, I knew I would find better deals in Hanoi or at Ha Long. Maybe next time, tourist trap!

We arrived at Ha Long just before noon. The harbour was misty and the city was in the distance. A wall of islands were further away than expected, and palm trees were outside the terminal. It seemed like the only notable thing in Ha Long was the ferris wheel, looking like a more tropical Silent Hill at times. The terminal was more welcoming, with welcoming staff, Leonie’s colourful Vietnamese flag, and the group in high spirits.

After taking a small speedboat from the terminal, we approached the large cruise ship. The Vietnamese flag was waving on top, and had the Oasis Bay logo lit up in neon. It looked amazing, and only got better when we got on board. The staff were incredibly welcoming, greeting us all as we walked through the long corridors, up a staircase and to the main interior. Before discovering that though, I walked all the way to the front of the ship, which showcased gorgeous green islands. The cruise would sail through many more over the next day and a bit, but I just had to see them first.

Returning to the interior, there was a dancefloor area with mixing desk, a lot of dining tables near the back, and a few sofas to relax and unwind. We were offered something that tasted like peach schnapps, and then had a meal of a few tasty Vietnamese dishes. I went with a yellow curry because it was the first time I had actually seen this in Vietnam! Shellfish and rice were all around as well, and I had a few oysters and clams too.

Afterwards we were set to go Kayaking. We put on some really thin ponchos, which felt more like putting on a Tesco plastic bag ,but it would keep the water at bay. I paired up with Rebecca and we kayaked along the bay. In truth she did a lot more rowing than me, all the stamina I have is in my legs and continually kayaking for more than 20 minutes at a time seemed to give me a need for a break. The other kayakers seemed faster, so we had to put more effort in keeping up. In any case we made it under limestone caves, through jagged pillars and finally into a lagoon in the bay, silent as it could possibly be, and with the occasional monkey howl heard and echoes through the misty area. It was surreal to hear such silence after all the noise in Hanoi. You would swear Kong was about to show up given the absolute silence before a massive attack on helicopters in the film.

Heading back, we took it easy for a few hours, swimming, chilling in the jacuzzis and exploring the ship. I had the gopro on so I was jumping off lots of tall heights for the best clips, and having fun underwater. Despite the crew thinking it was too cold to swim, the water was roughly the same temperature as Brittas Bar on a summers day so I was willing to give it a go.

The rest of the day seemed to be spent chilling in the jacuzzi, having a shower to clean myself and taking a timeout from the rest of the group for a bit. Rebecca and Chris were good to bounce banter around in the room, and at one point we heard some of the group shouting from the window. We took a pic of the trip photo at that moment, from the bathroom window…

That was the day done. It was a lot to take in, but featured tasty meals, a load of kayaking, chilling out on the ship and taking in the natural beauty of the bay. Truly it was worth seeing, and this was only during the day! The night would be something different entirely…