Xin Chao! Part 2: Ridin' in a Junk in Halong Bay

Thanks to an awesome suggestion by my friend Lucy, Dave and I decided to book an overnight tour of the UNESCO World Heritage site Halong Bay on a junk (that's a large boat, folks). It's a risky endeavor to agree to spend 24 hours on an enclosed boat with people you never met - but we got lucky. Bev and Trev from Australia and Folker and Maureen from Germany were delightful boatmates. Together with our animated guide Hue, we traversed the stunning limestone formations and islands (over 1000 in all) of the misty mystical bay, once fabled to be formed with the crash landing of a dragon sent by the gods to protect the Vietnamese from an invading Navy. During the trip, we visited a cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites and various rock formations that apparently resembled animals. I didn’t learn much about the geology, but I learned how to find a monkey in an old piece of limestone. Of particular importance was the “happy stone,” which Hue was all too excited to point out to us a symbol of happiness and love. I’ve posted a pic below to illustrate this little story and I promise to move on.

We finished the day with a kayaking trip through a stunning lagoon dotted by 50 orange-life-jacketed tourists. Being the former rower I am, I naturally took the front seat. This is a good idea in theory, however, rowing in a lightweight four has very little to do with kayaking through a murky bay with a personal trainer in the backseat who likes to be, well, in control. After finally finding our rhythm and propelling forward in a straight line (instead of one big circle), we absorbed the scenery and relative quiet of the peaceful place before heading back to the junk.

After a delectable dinner filled with the fervor of good, solid political debate with our new friends, we slept soundly to the rocking of the boat before heading back the next day. As we disembarked from the junk, Hue looked us all in the eye, wished us the best and reminded us to “always remember the legend of Halong Bay, always remember Vietnamese people, and always remember Happy Stone.”