I put behind me the three days of travelling like a gap student and entered into the world of luxury from Monday to Wednesday.

For about a month before our journey to Vietnam the three of us couldn’t decide on the boat in Halong Bay. Two weeks before our trip we finally booked, we knew we wanted two nights and three days on water and Jill wanted to kayak, and we wanted three rooms. The three rooms was a deal breaker for many of the boats that we were looking at but we finally succeeded on a boat that didn’t break the bank. I was vetoed on the boat having a pool as that increased the price substantially.

I had gone to sleep on the Sunday night on the sleeper train knowing that we had all been upgraded so there was an air of excitement when I met Jill and Gabby on the Monday morning.

A limousine was to pick us up, but we soon realised that a limousine in English is not the same as a limousine in Vietnam. It was a bus. Granted there was a lot of leg room and the seats were like arm chairs but we were sharing the bus with many more people than just the 5 of us. The bus was late picking us up and so like waifs we stood on the side of the road watching the Hanoi workers going to work on a Monday morning. A 7:30am pick up ended up being 8am and we all griped that we could have had a more leisurely breakfast/shower. Having picked up more people along the way, we finally collected Steph and Ricky, our little possé complete, the bus took to the open road. About 2 hours later we stopped at toilets. They were well kept as toilets go but it was apparent that we had stopped at a service station that sold pearls.

But back to the toilets for a bit – even up in Sapa on the mountainside the dirtiest thing about the toilets that I had used were my feet!

The loo stop was also a chance to buy a coffee or pearls. I bought neither, and with the most expensive pearls on display being $47,000 USD I didn’t even like them to be tempted (if I had that money – which I didn’t).

Finally we started dropping people off for their boats at Halong Bay. We were the last drop off with some other people and there were a lot of passengers already in the waiting room. We paid at the reception, and then we had a discussion about hats. I had brought a bandana but Steph and Jill hadn’t brought anything and we didn’t think there would be much shade on the boat, I had a bout of FOMO (fear of missing out) so I bought a hat too. The hat was wide brimmed and was fit for purpose. I brought it back to China with me, but mistakenly, I left it behind when I was filling in my landing card.

Anyway, to pass the time waiting to be called for our boat we bought hats and beer. And for those that know me – it’s ok I haven’t become a beer drinker. I still dislike it. Eventually the process of loading three boats began. We were one of the last ones to be called and with Jill’s surname being pronounced Qatar we nearly missed the boat!

There where about 15 of us on the boat and when we arrived at our actual boat for the next couple of days, it was old style luxury. Wooden panels and wooden flooring.

We were given lunch, sharing plates between two. There was a bottle of wine on the table and we asked for it to be opened – but while food was included drinks were extra – even the water we paid for! I had no complaints- well except for the shrimp salad – between two – the number of shrimp on the plate equalled one each. Stingy to say the least but with 5 courses none of us starved. Over the course of the cruise for lunch and dinner my travelling companions had various issues with the food – a few didn’t eat seafood or pork and on one night she asked for French fries because she had seen an Indian family order them. Catering for dietary requirements needed more work. But for being on a boat with limited resources the kitchen did well. The little boat that had brought us to the main boat had brought over bedding and eggs and probably everything else too, but it was the eggs that we all noticed.

When our room keys were handed out, the staff said that two of us had been upgraded while one hadn’t. Our keys were mixed up and we got to choose the key. I was extremely lucky and got an upgrade to the front of the boat. I got a large balcony overlooking the bow.

When it became apparent we had to pay for our drinks, something became quite attractive to us – the small row boat with a woman touting her wares. We only saw her our first day and so I dared to buy a bottle of wine. On reflection- the wine on the boat was better and there actually wasn’t that much difference in the price! I was definitely ripped off but it was an experience!

The bottle of wine was brought up to me by fishing net. And my money was then put back into the net. At some point in lowering the net, the wind blew and suddenly my money was blown out of the net and it landed on the water. Never have I seen a row boat move so fast, she got her money and thankfully the Vietnamese larger notes are plastic so it could be dried off!

The wine actually stayed in the fridge in my room until after the boat trip not least because we paid for bottles of decent wine and there was happy hour on the upper deck of buy two cocktails get one free. “I am Vietnamese” was my cocktail of choice.

When we weren’t drinking on the upper deck (only in the evenings) we were active. Our first afternoon on deck saw us go back into a smaller boat and go kayaking. We actually kayaked twice in our trip, each time experiencing something a little bit different.

My track record of kayaking is not great. Somewhere in the Great Barrier Reef is a crocodile wearing a pair of sunglasses taking photos with an underwater camera due to my capsizing a kayak with Martin and Eleanor. Kayaking could also have been the grounds of our marriage not surviving past the honeymoon. But… Jill bravely agreed on the first go, and on the second trip I paired with a random British tourist whose girlfriend had decided to stay on their boat and sunbathe. Both kayaking trips ended well.

My least favourite ride and song in Disney is “It’s A Small World”. I find the song repetitive and I find the statutes eerie. However, there have been times in my life when that song has been incredibly apt. And none more so, when kayaking through a cave and hearing a Scottish voice and thinking I know that voice. That voice belonged to Susan who we had known from Suzhou. We stopped alongside each other, hugged and had a selfie, made sure that each of us were doing well and then we moved on.

From these photos, it really doesn’t look as if I did much. Jill was in front for the first time, and yes I probably took more photos and let Jill do the work… the second time I was in the front so I had to be upfront in taking the photos! I also lost the GoPro in the first trip so Jill and I had to kayak fast to the drop zone – but at least this camera had a flotation device!

After kayaking on the second day we went swimming.

Many chose to jump of the boat, but as I hate submerging my face in water, I chose to go to down the ladder.

One of our party, when she jumped off, hit the bottom of the sea and scraped her foot on coral. Coral is notorious for being bacteria ridden and little fragments go into the wound. Thankfully the boatmen cleaned the wound and they got as much coral out as they could but walking was impaired… though it didn’t stop her on our Thursday adventure- but that is in the next blog!

On our first morning on the cruise, we were woken up by a tannoy announcement that breakfast was at 7am. The announcement went off at 6:15am twice. All of us were unprepared at the announcements on the ship telling us where we had to be and when. For me, it was now the 3rd day in a row where I had been woken up by an announcement and I was hacked off especially when our day trip didn’t start until after 9am. Our last day, we pleaded with the staff not to have an early morning announcement, and to their credit they didn’t. The announcement went off at 7am for the swimming, but what we didn’t realise was that breakfast was from 7-8 and that those of us who had been planning breakfast at 8am had missed it completely. However, it was nice to have a lie in.

Back to the first morning though, we were collected by a smaller boat and then we went to other boats picking up passengers. All of us went up on the upper deck and while it had limited shade the scenery changed every couple of minutes.

Eventually we arrived at Catba Island. On arrival we were given the choice of bicycle or electric golf buggy. Three of our party of five chose the active option while the others took the buggy. The cycling three had three hills to content with, and while I had to walk my bike up the hills, I then feared for my life on the way back down wondering if my brakes were good enough. The island was beautiful and we were taken to a place where the guide told us of his history, first as a pilot and then going into the tourist industry. There were snake skins in preserving liquid, and we knew that they had been fairly new in being cast off. The village had only recently had electricity, but it’s main source of income was tourists.

We all did our bit in buying beer or fridge magnets or both before having more photos taken and then heading back on our transport back to the boat and lunch. Lunch was plenty but we were served a whole fish, which had I not been there, would have been left uneaten. I beheaded it, took the tail and skin off. Everyone ate the top until they hit the bones whereby I deboned it and then they all tucked in again. I have to thank my mum for that nifty skill and all the trout I ate in France as a kid. It always came with its head and tail and skin – it didn’t phase me. But it clearly affects a lot of people. So let me know the next time you need something boned.

Halong Bay is a World Heritage Site and you can see why, it is stunning. Halong means “descending dragon” I guess because the karsts looked liked scales on a dragon’s back. The karsts are formed of limestone and there are thousands of inlets. Wikepedia has this piece of knowledge… “During the Vietnam War [American War (depending on the side)], many of the channels between the islands were heavily mined by the US Navy, some of which continue to pose threats to shipping routes in the present day”. Possibly this is why all the boats congregate in particular areas.

On our first night, there was Karaoke, but all five of us went to bed. Our second night however was song filled. Our first night, it was advertised that we would see the stars at 11pm and on our second night we had assumed it would be the same. However, after we were told to be quiet at 11pm I enquired about the stars and was told by fellow passengers that it had been a one night thing. A passenger who was doing the one night cruise had asked to see the stars and the boat had organised for the boats in the immediate vicinity of our boat to turn off the lights. Apparently despite being the boat that had organised it, ours had forgotten but did eventually turn it off. It would be wonderful if this happened every night.

This blog does jump a bit – sorry. It took me over a week to compile it, so sorry if it isn’t as coherent as it could be.

The next day we departed from our cruise ready for our next part of the adventure.