Vietnam, whatever day it is, Halong Bay

Just checked into this hotel for one night and they obviously know my preferences because here's another laptop to use!!!  And cold beer in the mini fridge for..... $1.50 US.  Oh, life, I love you so.

Yesterday I left Hanoi at 8:00 am, got to Halong Bay via the tour company bus at noon, boarded our boat (which you can see here and it looks exactly like this: www.treasure-junk.com)  and from the moment we stepped foot on it, something happened.... some mystical shroud enveloped us (well, maybe not everyone) and it was as if we were transported to another place and time, like an ancestral spirit wrapped itself around our boat and carried us away.  I know it sounds oddly mystical and we all know I don't walk down that path too often, but in this case there is no other way to describe it.

Halong Bay is very large and has more than 2000 limestone outcroppings (called karsts) rising above the water.  The geological formations are more than 20 million years old and are scattered all over the bay.  The day was not really clear, sort of misty in the distance, so there was no horizon you could see, just the karsts as they wasted away into the mist.  The sea was flat, the boat is amazingly quiet and we were all struck by the enormity of the feeling it gave us.

After embarking and getting our cabins, we had a 5 course delicious lunch of Vietnamese food, of course, and a little lecture on what the itinerary was.  I hooked up with a couple from NY and another single traveler, Giovanni from Italy, a 30 year-old guy who has done a lot of traveling.  The majority of those on the boat went kayaking but the 4 of us decided not to, and we convinced the crew of the skiff that off-loaded us from the Treasure Junk onto a beach the size of a kindergarten sandbox to take us on a tour around the bay instead.  We spent an hour just going around the karsts, seeing fishing boats and a floating village, watching hawk-like birds sail on the air currents.  We took a lot of photos, and then came back to the Junk before all the kayakers returned, enjoyed the sun deck before it was crowded.  It was lovely.

After the sunset, there was a little reception before dinner, Happy Hour with two-for-one cocktails and wine, and then another incredible meal was served, course after course of fresh mango salads and octopus and grilled fish and a spicy soup and roasted pork and all with perfectly cooked veggies and everything you would want.  Good french wine, nice whiskeys, (beverages were an extra cost but nothing was more than $7.00) and everyone had fun, talking and getting to know one another, and standing on the deck after dinner for the ritual of Squid Fishing.

But under all the camaraderie was the feeling that we were in the hands of some ancient entity.  The weather outside, even at 10:00 at night, was lovely, there was a little quarter moon and everything was silent except for the sound of peoples' voices.  I hit the bed a little after 10:00 and slept like a hibernating bear until 6:00 this morning.  And check this out: at 6:30 there was a tai chi lesson and I participated!  Me, who participates in nothing, was there and I liked it.  I might have to join the old Asian folks in Santa Rosa, get my tai chi going.

The event of the morning was worth the price of the ticket to Vietnam. It left most of us speechless.  I will tell you about it later.  Even though it is still rush hour, I need to walk off the 4 hour bus ride back to Hanoi.

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