So long, Halong

The trip on the Bay ended way too soon. After breakfast we stopped at one of the islands and climbed a steep stairway to a cave. Once we went through the entrance, we moved into a large room, where Ling gave us a brief explanation of the cave. Walking through a passageway, we dropped into another large room, where the stalactites sparkled, when we shined our flashlight on them. The cave gets a lot of traffic, so the stalactites and stalagmites are not in great shape, but they are still beautiful, nonetheless. At the end of the second room, light rushed in from the outside. We stepped outside again, having transited the entire karst from the inside. Now we were looking out on the other side of the bay. We lollygagged for a few minutes, then we made our way back through the cave and down the rock face. We took a quick detour to the other side of the base of the karst, where a small sandy beach invited us to stay. Unfortunately, we are on a schedule, so Kim hunted for a few seashells and I took more photos before we headed back to the junk.

Back on the boat, we packed up our belongings and headed to the deck for more relaxing. The captain turned the bow toward Halong City, and we began our sad journey back to dry land. It would still take us three hours to get back, so I spent almost all of it on the top deck taking pictures and enjoying nature. Of course, before be arrived, the crew made sure to serve us one last meal. In this sitting, we had vegetable soup, banana flower salad, deep fried shrimp paste, stir fry beef, stir fry chicken, and an eggplant dish, complimented with steamed rice. As if that weren’t enough, it was finished off with a flan dessert, served with caramel sauce and fresh mango.

After disembarking, we took a van from Halong Bay back to Hanoi. We stopped along the way to drop off Leah. She was meeting a driver that would take her directly to the airport, instead of coming all the way into Hanoi, as the airport is a ways out of town. We said our goodbyes quickly and continued on our way. Back into town, we drove by an extensive and interesting bridge. The Long Bien bridge spans the shores of the Red River. Ling said that it was opened in 1903 but sustained serious damage during the Vietnam War. You can still see where parts of the bridge are missing, although it remains in operation. Ling had a different name for it: the Eiffel Bridge, as it was built by Gustave Eiffel, who you may know from a certain tower.

We arrived in the late afternoon, meeting later to do some shopping and grab a bite to eat. We shopped for some weasel coffee, which we learned was coffee fruit, previously eaten and then pooped out by weasels. The “passed” coffee beans are then roasted and brewed up for your sipping enjoyment. We bought the mixed bag (some pooped and some regular beans) and will give it a try at home. On the other hand, thanks to my brother, Philip Tong, I got a killer deal on NorthFace. That’s right. For $20 I got a brand new, 900 fill down jacket. Can’t wait to get home and try it out in the snow!Read more