Vietnam 5 : Halong Bay & Yan Duc

Bai Tu Long

Fri 26 Jan 2018
We spent today exploring Hanoi - but for simplicity I’m going to save this for the Hanoi blog!

Sat 27 Jan 2018 
Minivan transfer by IndoChina Junk from Hanoi to Halong Bay, about 3.5 hours but with a break for lunch and water puppet show at Yan Duc village (which we return to afterwards for a home-stay). We boarded Dragon Pearl II at 1pm with 10 other “tourists” and chugged off into Halong Bay.  This is Vietnam’s number 1 tourist destination - and with 600 tourist boats (ranging from 10 to 75 cabins!) it can get very crowded in peak seasons. For this reason - we opted for a smaller boat and a 3 day/ 2 night cruise so can get to Bai Tu Long, which is much quieter.                                              
   

Dragon Pearl II

Having been so lucky with the weather on our travels since October (exceptional rain storms in Melbourne aside!), now was the moment for 10 degC, grey, and even some rain! So no lounging on the top deck sun beds !

Today was the final  for the Asian Football Confederation U23 - Vietnam versus Uzbekistan. This was a big deal - as it’s the best Vietnam have ever achieved in footie. The whole country was going nuts, and Hanoi was festooned with red flags and bunting. The crew very kindly agreed to re-cable their little TV up into the guest dining room - and we spent 3 hours (snow in China so had to clear the pitch and it went to extra time) watching the match as the boat motored through the gloomy day.  Unfortunately Vietnam lost 1-2, with the Uzbeks scoring in the final minute of extra time :(

Phenomenal 7 course (!) dinner, then bed.


Sun 28 Jan
Weather slightly better - but patches of rain. Of course we had to go kayaking just to say we had done it... and to work off the huge breakfast

Then there was a break in the rain, so we hopped onto one of the 1969 islands (or “karsts” if you’re a geologist) to visit an impressive cave, then very impressive beach BBQ - with full jumpers, hats and coats!

After lunch we motored to our next mooring in Ba Tu Long and went for another kayak - to work off lunch and be ready for the dinner onslaught.

It was a good mix on the boat, with another British couple, six retired or almost retired Americans, and a fun young couple from Toronto called Jackson & Erin whom we sat with each night.


Mon 29 Jan
A slightly better day for photos, and a visit to the floating fishing village in Halong. Absolutely part of the main tourist trail, but interesting all the same, and peaceful as we were rowed through the village by a local.

Jackson & Erin

Back for a last mega-lunch, then we rolled off the boat and into the mini-van to Yan Duc (about an hour / 60km east towards Hanoi) for our “homestay” with the other British couple, Ian & Anne.   Despite the cold weather, we really enjoyed our two nights on Dragon Pearl; the crew were superb, and the chef did his best to destroy our waistlines!

Yan Duc
We were met by our guide Nam, who took us to our hosts’ house. Yan Duc is an agricultural village set in the flat plains of the Quảng Ninh province.  After meeting our hosts (a retired farmer and his wife) in the smart house in the middle of the village - we set off on bicycles with enthusiastic Nam to be shown around, including how to catch fish the old fashioned way, grind and winnow rice!

Yan Duc by bike 

Caught one! 

Jess winnowing rice (and yes - it was this cold!) 

Then back to the house for early supper - sat inside on the floor, as too cold for the outside table

L-R: host, Anne, Ian, Nam (our guide, pouring rice wine!) & Jess 

Tues 30 Jan
After a long night on the rock hard bed, we were back on the bikes for a tour of the market and some local brush making! Jess had unfortunately acquired an ear infection (probably by leaping into Halong Bay as the only copiously on the boat to swim!) so opted to remain at the house.

Yan Duc paddy field; our homestay is the yellow house just visible in the centre behind the tree line 

Irrigating by hand 

Shame it’s blurred - but had to include these two happy
butchers in the little local market

Making brushes: our 71 year old teacher!

Brush maker and her husband; both ex-Army
and have been making brushes for over 40 years

Levelling the paddy fields prior to planting rice; two crops a year 

Taking out rice seedlings ready to plant

Levelling manually after the machine has been through

Cutting morning glory

Collecting bamboo 

We had an early lunch, and bid farewell to our hosts.

Our hosts, and the cook (centre) 

Nam then took us behind the scenes of the Water Pupper show that we had seen at the start of our Halong Bay Tour. Although clearly designed to entertain the tourists, this art-form is particular to the north of Vietnam and dates back to the 11th century. It’s fun to watch and then see how they do it.

Behind the scenes!

After a 2.5 hour van trip, we reached the sumptuous Lotte Hot el Hanoi. From boat cabin and farm homestay to 5* Luxury... see next report on Hanoi.

We depart Vietnam tomorrow (2 Feb) after an amazing month, and fly to Luang Prabang.