It was a slow start to the day, noodles for breakfast and slowly cruising through the Karsts. It’s cool and comfortable, and decompressing in one of the 7 natural wonders of the world is no hard duty.
By mid day we were at the far northeast end of Halong near the Van Gigio island chain. A BBQ on the beach was in order. The “BBQ” turned into another amazing meal with all the fine finishes. We should have dressed.
We did get in some more typical Kinnaird activity like beach-combing and yes, foraging! Not sure if we’ll get to eat them but we did contribute 4 clams to the bucket.
While we were beach-combing one of the crew scaled the cliff for some traditional medicine for his diabetes. Don’t see that in Cape May.
We were very excited after lunch when Captain Tuan put up the sails on the junk! This, however, was just a photo opp for the spoiled Americans and they came down quickly.
We did some more kayaking, this time at ultra low tide. That opened an amazing number of “wet caves” in the karsts and we could see tons of coral in the shallow emerald waters.
We were in a local fishing area. The fisher families live on their boats and raft up in villages of 5 to 50 families for community. They also farm grouper – something new to us. Interesting to see some of the older guys rowing gracefully with their feet!
(An observation, we are NOT used to having our hands held, helped in and out of boats, forced to wear life jackets kayaking in flat water, and constantly asked if the staff can be of service. Every time I reach for my beer Leo jumps to his feet. He hovers constantly. Parts of it are cool, but it’s getting a bit overbearing. I know, I know, first world problems but they kind of treat us like we’re 80.)
That said, this has been soooo restful. We have spent 60+% of our time just sitting in a boat watching beauty float by. We find ourselves talking in whispers. It’s almost sacred. Half awake, half the time. It’s not usually my jam – too mellow and self indulgent. But ya know….
We’re wrapping up Halong Bay with a flight out to Hue tomorrow. It was a flurry of activity last night. I feel like Leo went to his cabin to check the list of stuff he was supposed to show guests and went “Oh shit”
So we tried squid fishing (fail), had a crispy Vietnamese pancake cooking class (success), had a foot bath, and then another wonderful 5 course meal. Bun Cha was on the menu but a very different version from the Bourdains experience in Hanoi.
It was also arts and crafts night. The cook showed us his food-art (apparently he’s famous for it) with two radish doves and a watermelon and pumpkin version of the ship – in photo op mode of course. Really impressive and we were told he did it during our one hour kayak trip.
Then we had what was truly a compelling experience. Leo pulled out a bamboo flute and played us a traditional Hmong song from his home in the Northern mountains.
G’night from Halong Bay. Monday January 19.
Mac and Juju explore Southeast Asia 