Hello Everyone. You’re now reading my last blog post from Asia, at least for this leg of my trip. Tonight I start a journey which spans about 30 hours and 3 separate flights to get to NYC. I’ll be exploring the city and seeing friends for the week and then watching one of my best friends ever marry the woman he loves. I’m pretty excited for him and to see NYC. I’m also feeling more nervous and uncomfortable than I have about travel since boarding that plane back to Canada fresh off my first blood clot issue. I don’t know whether it’s leaving Asian culture after 7 months, bringing an end to my travelling ways for a few months, or some combination of the both, but I don’t much care for this nervous flutter in my gut. It is reminiscent of the feeling before you walk out on stage, but the nervous joy has been replaced by earnest fear. Unsettling.
At any rate, that’s not really what this post is about. It’s about the last big thing I’ve done with my time in Asia. Halong Bay, it means the bay of Descending Dragons, and it’s a Unesco World heritage sight, one of the new 7 wonders of the natural world, and fully deserving of both titles. It’s also one of the most expensive things I’ve done since coming to Asia. Also, like most splurges of this trip, it was totally worth it.
I embarked from Hanoi with a company called Fantasea (Worth it for the Wordplay Alone) . After 4 hours on a bus with about 10 other people ranging from (British, to Polish, to Vietnamese French, to Kenyan) we were all climbing onto a small boat, to bring us to our less small boat which would take us out into the countless limestone cliffs of Halong Bay.
For those who don’t know Halong bay is off the coast of Northern Vietnam, and is a vast expanse of Ocean filled with thousands of tall limestone forested islands, which explode up out of the water in sheer cliffs. The legend behind this mystical landscape is that many years ago the vietnamese were fighting off invaders from the sea, and dragons wished to protect them, so these dragons would dive down into the water just in front of enemy ships, leaving islands behind in the water where said enemy ships would crash. The islands are all that is left of these descending dragons now, but my god are the spectacular. Here’s a little photographic Aperitif.
The first stop on our itinerary as we cruised through countless dragon islands was Sung Sot Cave, the largest cave in this region and quite a sight to behold, once you’d climbed up to it. I was also pleasantly surprised, as my new camera proved capable of capturing some of the magic. In previous cave visits across Europe Ive not been able to emerge with a single decent picture. I think that changed this time around. At any rate, back to the cave, the other worldly rock formations and vast chambers stretching deep into the limestone, we’re quite something to explore, even if it was pretty crowded. Still, it was an incredible experience, to feel the cold humidity to come across little underground lakes, and to study the different ways the rocks have grown, all gave you a feeling that you’d entered an unknown world. Sort of Reminiscent of my experiences snorkelling in Indonesia. Anyway here’s some pictures that I’m pretty thrilled with. Oh and the cave even had a glowing red penis! Pretty awesome stuff.
After the cave we climbed back up on our boat and cruised through more Dragon Residues to get to an island where we climbed up some 400 steps (Memo to self: Get into better shape) through vietnamese jungle, to an incredible look out point of one small part of Halong Bay. The views were absolutely majestic and trust me when I say the pictures can’t possibly capture it. They tried anyway:
From there we cruised through the endless awe inspiring landscape to a small floating business where we disembarked and climbed into rented kayaks. Only half the group dared the somewhat leaky kayaks and so I was left alone in mine. Sadly the camera was left behind for this trip, but I quickly paddled out of the crowded bay, passed through a cave channel into a small lake like area surrounded by cliffs and jungle. Paddling around this lake I found a family of monkeys in the trees and was brought right back to Pokhara in Nepal and lake Fewa, because much like they did there, the monkeys through some of their food at me, and watched with a nervous sort of excitement. It also made me realize just how many amazing things I’ve done this past year, and how lucky I am to have these chances. Alone in this basin the bird calls suddenly overwhelmed any other noise as countless seahawks (thankfully not from Seattle) Soared overhead, occasionally diving down fast as bullets to snare a fish from the sea. More kayakers arrive and we shared the monkeys for a while before I headed out for more paddling, feeling comfortable in a Kayak for the first time really, since I figured out how to paddle effectively finally. (Perhaps some white water rafting awaits me in south america.) Here’s a few shots of the hawks.
We spent the night on the boat, half singing karaoke and enjoying a plentiful and delicious dinner. The clams from Halong bay are particularly divine. The next morning we woke up and made for Cat Ba island, the biggest island in the region and home to an amazing National park, and a very touristy but pleasant little port town. Half the group had only booked 1 night two days so they headed back to Hanoi while we disembarked and headed to the national park where we met our charming non english speaking guide, little monkey. A man who reminded me how refreshing it is when someone chooses to give there all to their job instead of merely doing what has to be done.
Nervous for my leg and general poor level of fitness I’d asked when booking the cruise what kind of walking the national park entailed and the experienced was likened to a stroll in the park. Well it wasn’t that, it was anything but. It was more or less a trek through jungle up a mountain for two hours, many sections of it closer to rock climbing than walking. I was exhausted pretty quickly but couldn’t bring myself to call it quits. When we got to the top it was all worth it, even if my shirt was an ocean of sweat. Little Monkey led us up this mountain with Wild enthusiasm, always wearing a smile, and helping wherever he was needed. He even showed us how he’d earned his nickname climbing in the trees. As we trekked through the hot and humid jungle, me and a new friend from England ended up talking about how terrifying a place this would have been to fight a war. No wonder America struggled so much to impose themselves here, the jungles are so thick and full of dangers on their own, fill them with soldiers and they become something else entirely. Still, it keeps coming back to the view, and the feeling of well earned euphoric freedom as I stood looking out at those jungle covered peaks as far as the eye could see.
After a delicious lunch at our hotel for the night (Probably the nicest room I’ve been in all trip) we headed out on yet another boat to monkey Island. We also puttered past one of many floating villages, catching a glimpse of the local life. Before coming to Vietnam I’d been told by many travellers that the people were less friendly than in the rest of south east asia. Measuring by Hanoi and Halong bay that couldn’t be further from the truth and I’m certainly hopeful I’ll find my way back to Vietnam for longer that 9 days sometime in the future. Monkey island itself had a lovely beach and tons of mischievous monkeys who steal anything thats not very well guarded. I found some shade and worked on editing Disappearing Eyes and guarded everyone else’s belongings, but despite my non central location I did still catch some glimpses of the monkeys.
That night we all had a great dinner than headed to Rose bar to play some pool, have a couple of drinks (myself excluded) and indulge in some laughing gas balloons (also myself included since I wasn’t sure of interactions with warfarin.) It was a cool bar and a good way to end my experience in Halong Bay.
The next morning we caught a boat and bus combo back to Hanoi. As we drifted between these fallen Dragons I stood at the front of the ship and lost myself in drifting uncontrolled thoughts. By the time we were at port I had another Idea for a new fantasy/sci fi novel which I’ll continue to develop over the coming months. A new idea is the last thing I need but it will be added to the list of things to write, I’m just lucky that I do have so much time to be creative. Around 5 pm we got back to my fantastic hostel, Little Hanoi Hostel. If you’re ever in the north of Vietnam, stay here, trust me. Beautiful clean dorms and rooms, great included breakfast, fantastic location and staff, and all for 6 dollars. Don’t miss it.
At any rate I start my journey to NYC tonight. You’ll certainly get another blog entry about my time there. I also do intend to keep the blog going over the summer, albeit probably a bit more sporadically, still I’ll be searching out Canadian adventures for the summer and then we’ll kick off in truth again on August 29th when I fly to Cartagena Columbia for a whole new year or more of South American Adventures! Lucky Lucky me.
It feels tragic to be leaving Asia, and hard to remember how overwhelmed I felt when I first landed in Katmandu. I feel comfortable here now, the traffic, the crazy amount of people, the dirty streets, the different languages, they all seem a part of my life now, and I’m genuinely scared to leave them behind for a while, and that’s how I feel about the potential downsides of Asia. The friendly smiles of locals, the incredible temples and historical sights, the fantastic food, and the impossible landscapes, well those I will miss with all my heart.
Goodbye Asia, Hello New York City!
