Day 6: Ha Long Bay (Luon Cave) & Hanoi City (French Quarter)

The last day cruise itinerary was utterly disappointing. We woke up very early that morning, and the cave we checked out was the Luon Cave. There was nothing to it, just a guest receiving platform, local boat rowers, a tunnel "cave" which leads to a small lagoon which was almost exactly what we had seen during kayaking.  

But before that, we also woke up earlier to attend the Tai Chi Class, which was taught by ... *drum roll*, the multi-roled Sunny. Sunny and Fung weren't just guides, they co-worked as waiters as well, and now Sunny, was also the Tai Chi instructor. 

He was all dressed up that morning, in the local loose fit slivery white Tai Chi attire. There was a good turnup that morning (I'm assuming this since I can't compare it with the previous day because we didn't attend the session) and the entire session took around 15 minutes. 

He went through 2 introductory parts of Tai Chi with us, first the breathing exercise, then, the moving of "melons" exercise. It was actually quite fun to be learning Tai Chi on board a junkship early in a chilly yet tolerable Wednesday morning on Halong Bay.

Back to Luon Cave... There was really nothing much to it, and felt like another time wasting activity. They could have brought us to a more exciting/interesting spot, instead of just having us "explore" (nothing to explore) the luon cave just because it's close to the Surprise Cave. The new group of guests carried on with the Sung Sot tour, and since the 3 days 2 nighs guests had already gone there, they ferried us to the nearest cave, regardless of how boring it was. 

That was the last of our stop, before heading back to our boat, pack up, and get ready to return to the harbor, and finally back to Hanoi City. I'm gonna fast forward a little because there weren't any interesting encounters or anything noteworthy to mention. 

Oh, perhaps one thing to add, I actually tipped Sunny on my own free will. He was the first guide that I tipped willingly, wanted to tip Fung but we couldn't catch him as he already went out to Victory 08 to welcome the new group of guests who signed up for the 3 days cruise. We could finally have a decent conversation with Sunny at Victory cafe while waiting for our shuttle bus, and got to know him better. 

The trip back to Hanoi City took half a day, and when we finally reached our new accomodation, Charming Hotel, I, we were taken aback. I didn't expect it to be situated at this narrow lane, and even though it was less than 100 metres away from Hotel Diamond, it was nothing like the latter. The hotel was old, rundown and felt low grade. It was an absolute downgrade from our previous accoms, but what the heck, it was too late to regret it. 

I had booked a different hotel because I was curious to try out different hotels there, and since both Holiday Gold and Charming Hotel were under the same hotel group/management, I thought they wouldn't differ that much. 

The amentities were all the same alright, Charming Hotel only "brought" over the stuff I didn't like from Holiday Gold and added more low points to our accom experience. My dear was so moody, though I didn't really know why but I believe was cos she felt the same way I did she just laid on the bed and didn't wanna move an inch. I had to pretend to be alright, and still hyped up even though deep down inside, I was regretting being that curious. 

We managed to drag ourselves out and decided to check out the Ngoc Son Temple @ Hoan Kiem Lake. However it was closed by the time we got there but did see an interesting sight... A local was bringing his 2 Chow Chows for a walk and he got a lot of attention because both his Chows Chows looked like baby bears. They were so ginormous that if both of them combined were to start chasing whatever and whoever, even Cesar Millan would have trouble pulling them back. 

The owner was obviously basking in all the attention as he pretended to act cool and walk his dogs in mini circles so that the locals and tourists could snap more shots and to hear their gasps of awe repeatedly. 

The bridge leading to Ngoc Son Temple stood out like a red light district in the seemingly dull looking lake. It was so red the photos we took all gave a creepy red hue especially to our faces. 

We decided to check out the French Quarter that night, and came across a 3D art exhibition on our way there. It looked interesting from the outside, so I decided to give it a go. Paid quite a bit for that, and when we entered, I was thinking "Oh Shit". 

Let's just say I saw whatever I was hoping it would not be. The inside looked empty, and felt like a cheap looking art gallery. There were just 3D pictures spaced out from one another in which visitors could take photos with. The images on the pictures were very CG-ed, fake and cartoon-like. The only thing which cushioned my pengsanness was that there was this guy who helped us to take the photos, and we could have them either emailed to us, or transferred over to our SD Card. 

That way both of us could finally be in the picture together without our enlarged faces taking up most of the frame, but after viewing the photos when we came back... oh crap, it was indeed a waste of money. The shots were not well taken and that guy, who looked like a geeky arts student with good photography skills, turned out that he didn't quite have the "eye" for photography after all. Parts of the images were not in the photos because he tended to zoom in too much and though the 3D effect was there, the "whole" effect was missing. 

Newaz, most of the images had a mini sample shot pose at the side and there were even some exhibits we could go into, to further create the 3D depth of field. (photos at the bottom)

We didn't spend much time there, and the whole thing was over in less than 30 mins. We then headed to the French Quarter, and saw... and saw... and saw... actually there wasn't much to see over there. 

The French Quarter was a more affluent part of the city, the restuarants there were more high class, so were the retail shops, and they even have Hugo Boss there. However, it felt like a deserted Orchard Road. Bright lit streets, well furnished shops, with hardly any patrons. The hosts of the restaurants were all very fluent in English. 

We passed by the Opera House, and this other building which I think was the History Museum, both of which looked like another other French-influenced building over in Hanoi.

As a matter of fact, it was pretty boring there. We stopped by a bakery, bought some expensive, normal tasting bread (comparing to the standards there, around the same price per piece of bread here in Singapore) and dined in. My dear wasn't feeling that well and thought it'll be good if we tried something more "normal" and filling. 

We decided to head back, and somewhere along the way, we came across an alleyway where motorcyclists would park their bikes and buy ice creams which came in cones. Curious, we walked in, tried to blend in, no difficulty there because quite frankly, no one gives a damn since most of them were couples and we looked like locals anyways. 

My sua ku hesitation in getting a cone as well gave ourselves away, but yet didn't invite any stares. A coned ice cream cost 12,000 dong, less than a dollar and tasted rather artificial. It tasted like milky icicles. I wasn't sure why it was so well liked by the locals but concluded that it was one of the authentic local tastes there. The stall's name is Ken Trang Tien, if you're wondering. 

Not filled by the "snacks" we had, we, I, had our final dinner at a Pho Restaurant, called Pho 24. It was a more decent looking stall, air-conditioned, but cost more than the usual Phos. The foods were served in clean white bowls and it felt like a commercialised Pho cafe. It didn't have the local feel and the taste was very "generic". 

They have their very own brands of instant noodles and according to the table paper mat (or whatever you call it, similar to the piece of paper on fast food trays) it used to have an outlet in Singapore. I recalled trying out a Vietnamese Restaurant along Tan Quee Lan St, not sure if it's still there, or if it was the same one. 

That ended our night stroll along the busy streets of Hanoi City and we covered close to pretty much all the attractions over there... with a few exceptions which we further checked out on our last day there (to be continued, on last post, Day 8). 

But for now, the next day's itinerary, our day trip to Tam Coc was one of my highly anticipated trips over there.

3D Gallery Photos:

Day 5: Ha Long Bay (Sun Sot Cave [Surprise Cave], Kayaking at Light & Dark Cave Area, Cat Ba Island, Soi Sim Islet [Beach/Hill])

That morning, my dear had intended to attend Tai Chi class, and both of us wanted to wake up early to catch the sunrise. However, as we turned in late the previous night, we decided (a very impromptu decision made that very morning as we were both cosily cuddling in bed) to catch sunrise in bed. Dear drew the curtains and went back to bed... and the overcast skies, actually misty weather convinced us that we made the right choice because we couldn't catch the sunrise anyways. We were half awake, but enjoyed the bed more than the brightening skies.

I didn't like how throughout the cruise, we had to wake up freakishly early every morning. Our shuttle boat would depart at 7.30am... which meant we had to wake up 6.45-7pm, much earlier than on my normal working days! And this was because they wanted to tight fit the itinerary so that they could turnover the guests on board quickly, catering to both 3 days 2 nights and 2 days 1 night itineraries.

But, that said, the 2nd day was good fun. The cave we visited was Sung Sot Cave, or Surprise Cave. Anyways, that morning was the only morning we experienced the sailboats raising their brown obiang looking sails and we were so desperately thirsty that we wanted to buy mineral water off visiting sampans... which we didn't manage to because the guide had told us that the sampans would follow us... but turned out it was all a big fat lie. There was no way the sampans would be able to catch up with our shuttle bumper boats and they'll be better off rowing to docked ships then to follow us around  all day long.

Sunny was our guide for Hang Sung Sot and he was indeed an enthusiastic and animated individual. Victory Star was blessed to have him. Throughout the tour, his firey passion was highly contagious and when he brought us around the cave and showed us the different points with the "hidden beauties", it was as if it was his virgin intro... Even though I was sure he had done it a hundred times before (he joined Victory Star 6 months ago). Sung Sot Cave is also known as the Surprise Cave because of the formation of the rocks. Given the right amount of imagination, one can "see" many figures, creatures and animals from the rocks. And if you're one with an infinite amount of imagination, the entire cave is like a kaleidoscope of hidden beauties. It was like being in another solar system, and I loved how they "decorated" the cave with differnt colored lights, which created a fantasy-cave-like-world feel to it.

There were laughing Buddhas, Tortises, Dragons, Faces, Elephants, Baby Porcupines and even a Pointing Finger (Index finger... what were u thinking? Actually, the finger was rather suggestively provocative... Ok, I was just trying to be discrete, crudely put, the finger also looked like a penis).

After which, we were ferried on board yet another junkship, the Victory 08, where those who signed up for the 3 days 2 night itinerary would all be. The rest would pack their stuff up and return to the harbor. Victory 08, was an average-sized junkship, and though wasn't as grand as Victory Star, was equally as cosy because of the woody interior. By then, there were only the 8 of us, and it felt like we were on a private cruise.

The guide for the rest of the day was Fung (like "Wind"). He taught us to napkin folding using just a normal piece of table napkin, to fold a boat and a flower, which my dear caught on really fast. It was a short time filler before our next drop off.

They dropped us at a small island called Soi Sim, where there was a small cosy beach and a fairly short hill where visitors can climb to get a better view of the surroundings. The island was called as such because Sim refers to a fruit, and Soi means "to find". So Soi Sim means to find the fruit, which is a rather "abstract" fruit because it kinda represents life.... Sim looks like a little green grape, except the "flesh" is crunchy and bitter... but after munching it in the mouth for around a minute or so, it would taste sweeter. Hence the reference to life... hardship first before enjoying life afterwards.

I think the Sim fruit is unique to Vietnam because I couldn't even find it in my National Geographic Encyoclopedia of Edible Plants. 

There was nothing much to see at the summit of the hill, just a clearing with trees blocking different angles, but given the right angle, allowed us to have a pretty good view of the surroundings. The terrain on the way up wasn't that bad, but care still had to be exercised to climb it because it was rather rocky at different points. 

We wasted no time and decided that chillaxing on the beach would be a better choice. The waters weren't that clear, and were obviously pretty cold, so we just dipped our feets in for a bit. Fung gave each guest our very own personal beach towel which we laid on the sand to relax. He also offered to take couple shots of us, a plus plus for "xing yi". Somehow, he got on very well with us, so much so that on our way to our next destination, light/dark cave where we kayaked, he invited us to the crew quarters to play a "private" game of Vietnamese Poker! 

It was as if we had this private VIP pass, and Fung thought us to play their local card game. Actually, Vietnamese Poker's very similar to Singapore's version of Big 2, just that instead of being confined to only playing a single card, pairs, threes (in some cases) and 5 cards, as long as the cards are in sequence, we could play them. Also, the suits didn't matter. So as long a number of picture card is played, it overrides any other similar cards of different suits. 

But the most memorable part of Vietnamese Poker was the players' emotions when they played it. That's lotsa "slapping" of the cards, and emotions invested in the game. The loser (last person to clear his/her cards) had to do a forfeit by kneeling down and wasn't allowed to sit properly only until he/she wont the game. Whenever the cards were played, players would throw the cards onto the ground/mat so hard that it gave a slapping sound. And whenever someone loses, there's lotsa fuss about it, those who didn't have to kneel would be laughing at those who did. While winning wasn't everything, the way everyone reacted throughout the "private" session was utterly entertaining and unforgettable.

Took us a while to reach our kayaking place, the light/dark cave. Each couple were given a doubles kayak and Fung toured us around the area. He kayaked very close to the islets, and at first I thought he did so to avoid being sweep away from the current (though the waters of Halong Bay looked calm, the swimming ordeal made me realise that there was a relatively strong undercurrent), we later found out that he did so because he was on the "hunt" to find the forest animals, such as the black squirrels and monkeys. 

According to him, black squirrels were rare and the monkeys were all in hiding because of the season. Thankfully, lady luck was on our side that day, and we managed to see both animals, not just one, but a few of them. 

Both of us really enjoyed the kayaking experience, because it allowed us to navigate into smaller, cosier lagoons otherwise inaccessible to the shuttle boats, and there was lotsa of couple bonding there. We splashed water, got upclose to the animals and osyters stuck on the rocks, and even kayaked through a dark and narrow cave. However, the cave wasn't the actual "dark cave". We only explored the light cave, but gave the dark cave a miss because Fung said it was high tide and was dangerous to go into the dark cave. 

Their definition of the word cave is very differently from mine, and when I use the word cave, I'm actually referring to their definition. My definition of a cave is an enclosed hollowed area, surrounded by huge, towering rocks which makes up the hill/islet, or the outer cave's body. Sung Sot Cave, was a cave. But every other freaking cave they said were caves, were merely short tunnels. 

They use the same word to describe the opening of a islet, which allows one to move from one side of the islet to another. Even though it's just a short stretch, it's still called a cave. 

So if you have the same expectations as I did when I heard that we were going to kayak at an enclosed cave, it's not quite that. The caves were only secondary. The lagoons, enclosed by the islets, and entered in from a "cave", those were the supposed highlights. 

Well, I still enjoyed it tremendously because it felt really romantic. It was just the both of us on a small kayak, rowing and cruising around a small part of Halong Bay and checking out the local animals.

When we returned to our boat, they served us lunch on board. The food wasn't fantastic, but carried along a flair of homecooked with it. We konked out after that, with damp butts and shagness overpowering us. We were en route back to our main boat, which took about an hour or so.

When we finally set foot back on Victory Star, we headed back to our room, took a shower and chilled out at the balcony... while waiting for dinner time. There wasn't much activity at night, only squid fishing, and the same old cooking class, akan datang. 

The 2nd half of the day was very relaxing and we welcomed the much awaited alone, no rush time we finally had together. Even though it was Xmas day they served us what looked like a normal french dinner. All the dishes (only 5 course) tasted good, but I guess the "main" dinner was the gala dinner on Xmas eve and not the one on the actual day itself.

The squid fishing was an own time own target thing, unlike the cooking class which started at a specific timing (6pm). We gave the cooking class a miss that day because after the previous day's tryout, it wasn't really worth checking it out again, even if they whooped up a different local dish the amount of food tasting we were each given was pathetic. 

We had to proceed to the rear of the boat, grab a thin bamboo stick with a fishing line at one end, and a fake brightly colored (1 color) bait to lure any unsuspecting squids. We had to do all the fishing at a spot brightly lit up by a spotlight and had to mimick the movement of fishes when the baits were in the water. The crew didn't teach us the technique, but apparently he demonstrated to one guest and expected him to simply pass down the knowledge to the rest. 

So I couldn't really learn from how the "pros" do it, what it was supposed to look like (how to make the bait lifelike) but slowly tried to figure it out myself. 

We were joined by a new bunch of guests that night, and my dear was especially tickled and impressed by this group of "high-society" British old people (crudely put). Actually, the group was made up of a muscular young man, some grandfathers and the majority of them were granny-like women. I was equally as tickled by their conversation and how they kept an unintentional live commentary going. It was a commentary slash full of comments moment for all of us there. 

They were commenting how the guys were doing it wrong, what it was supposed to be or look like, tried to teach the guys to do it "right", said something like they were just wasting their time cos their weren't any squids to catch in the first place and refused to try it out themselves. While it may sound rather "cold water pouring" and "bitchy" but I assure you it was more comical than irritating at that moment. They spoke such polish British English that it was reminiscence of a Birtish soap opera where after 10-15 minutes, the topic was still the same, and yet still interesting to "watch". 

I had initially thought there were indeed squids to be caught, because I refused to believe they would include an activity for the sake of doing so, and was so motivated to keep going until it dawned on me that I was just kidding myself. 

The only other aquatic creature I saw was this other fish which was swimming at the lit spot, and I used it as a reference for creating a realistic bait. 

After we each had our go and fun at the seemingly time wasting activity (we had lotsa time to "waste" anyways), we returned to our room to pack our stuff, ready to bid farewell to our cruise the next day.