halong bay. vietnam. march 16th – 17th. 2009

The beautiful limestone karsts are the draw to this UNESCO World Heritage site. Like everywhere else in SE Asia, our only option to get there is through a guided tour, which in this situation is a good thing, since neither of us can operate or sail a boat! Our boat tour options were numerous and we settle on a recommended tour company who’s fleet accommodate up to 12 passengers per junk boat for a 2 day, 1 night visit. We are about to board and all is well up to this point, until our tour guide asks all passengers to hand over their passports for them to hold on to for the duration of the tour. I immediately refuse to do this and continue to have a disagreement with our tour guide as to why I do not want be without my passport. Basically, I was told if we refuse to turn over our passports  then we cannot go on the boat. He reassured me it would be safe and we would get them back when we leave the boat the next day. So relunctantly, we hand them over and board to begin our tour. Later, as we are on our way to the bay, we found out that one of the other tour operators had all of the passports on one of the other boats!!This infuriated me, but I stayed calm, and hoped just for the best. That was our first hurdle to overcome, which I recognize is my own issue. Not that I necessarily distrusted them in this situation, but it is my passport and my responsibility, and I can’t keep it safe, if I don’t have it. Anyways, I let it go and wasn’t going to let it affect my mood for the trip. And just as I was finding my zen with this, a fellow passenger starts arguing with the tour guide. She is clearly distraught with her situation, which we figured out through their discourse, was because she had to share her sleeper cabin with a stranger who was male. The boat had sleeper cabins that had two single beds each and I believe only 1 private cabin with 1 single bed. After much more discussion, and the tour guide offering no effort to find a reasonable solution, nothing was resolved and she was still clearly distraught at her predicament. The simple solution would have been for the gentleman who had the single cabin, to offer it up to her, but he wanted nothing to do with it whatsoever. So, us being the kind Canadians we are, and me being my Libra self needed to find a solution for this situation. It didn’t take Laurel and I too long to offer up a possible solution. Which was for us to split up for the night. The Lady could sleep in our cabin with Laurel, and I would sleep in her cabin with the strange man. She was happy with this solution and we were happy that we could finally move on and start to enjoy this visit to Halong Bay.

The day was foggy, but it added to the atmosphere of this serene and beautiful place. It also provided a sort of blanket that masked the over population of boats around us. The views are spectacular and vast as we weave our way through the bay and eventually dock, as do all the other boats, to visit the colourfully lit up Thien Cung Cave. After some time docked, we board the boat and get ready to spend the night back on the water. The night is calm, the sky is as dark as can be. Then sleep. The next day, the fog is again heavy in its cover, providing a picturesque backdrop of translucent layers, gradually disappearing into the distance. We make our way back to town and are handed back our passports as we deboard the boat. I learned a lot about myself on this short trip. Maybe learned isn’t the right word, maybe reaffirmed is more appropriate. I won’t get into the details of my self reflecting, but I'll just say it’s all positive.

laurel's halong bay photos on flickr
stephen's halong bay photo's on flickr

w r i t t e n  b y  s t e p h e n