12.04 - Day 15 - Hanoi to Bai Tu Long Bay, Vietnam
Sunday 12th April
Hanoi to Bai Tu Long Bay, Vietnam
Temperature Min 26, Max 39, Bai Tu Long Bay Min 25, Max 39
5,141 steps
Given the size of Eliana Ruby hotel - three rooms per floor, six floors, breakfast is surprisingly extensive and sets us up for our morning of travel (supplemented with some sweet bread from the bakery in our alley).
It's all an early start, our minibus collecting us at 8:15am to take us to Ha Long city via the extended rest stop at a woven-picture / gemstone / carved stone selling emporium.
The eleven seat LED-laden massage chair minibus shared with some Canadians keen to impress they’re not from Toronto.
In the Indochina building, Sienna and Seb start spying who else might be on our boat: Dragon Legend 1. A flotilla of golf buggies take the 48 passengers to the port proper where some get well worn tenders out to Dragon Legend 1 which is sitting out at anchor.
It’s the same boat we came on two years ago and whilst we had a great experience last time I'm nervous to promise what the whole cruise will be like in case it isn't exactly the same.
Thankfully, after a quick briefing from our tour guide Kenny G, our rooms are as we remembered looking very smart with large windows looking out to see.
Sienna, Seb and I are sharing a Standard room (Standard is underplaying it somewhat) and an adjoining Single room (which still has a double bed but is just smaller i.e. no corner bath). Mema and Pawpaw are next door also in a standard room.
Lunch immediately as soon as Dragon Legend 1 departs, the large rock karsts protruding out the sea beginning to sail past as we get our introduction to multi-course heavy-on-the-fish meal. The food like last time is amazing and plentiful.
Our first stop mid-afternoon is Vung Vieng Fishing Village - approached on our own pair of tenders being towed by Dragon Legend. Whilst most people get a history overview from Kenny G, I'm trying to persuade Sienna and Seb to keep the resident cat and puppy at least away from their faces as they pick them up to cuddle.
Our five then hop in a small tub where we're rowed into and through the “village” consisting of large floating rafts with ramshackle houses and quadrangle fishing nets presumably growing the already caught fish.
There's no commentary from our boat lady or indeed a single word this silence is peaceful imagining what it must be like to live on the water in these huts.
Back on the main pontoon there's a talk on the pearl farming that also occurs in these waters and after exiting through the giftshop, it’s back to Dragon Legend.
I'd already pushed Sienna to say Hi to another girl on the boat - here with her mum - Jessie, 11 from Thailand with her German mum Ramona. Sienna and Jessie then go off exploring the boat together after lunch.
It doesn’t take long until Sienna, Seb and Jessie are in the pool (3m x 3m) with three other kids. Again, after some parent intervention with their dad, Eric, the kids meet Branston, 11, Omily, 9 and Cora, 7.
I suggest they play Marco Polo and then spend the next hour turning mostly Seb to stop shouting and lifting all the water out of the pool, conscious of the 30 odd people aboard with no kids who might not have foreseen this when they booked a luxury cruise. Hey ho the kids have fun until Kenny G suggests slash tells them that 6pm to get out and get ready for dinner.
Whilst the kids relax a little there's G&T's for the adults in Memaa and Pawpaw's room as Dragon Legend moors up amongst a few other boats, surrounded by these unique stout stone giants that rise up out of the very calm sea.
Dinner is on the deck outside the many staff laying out the white table cloths for another very tasty and very filling dinner. All the kids slink away from their respective family tables and run off to play together - Eloise, 7 and Rowan, 4 from Melbourne completing the eight child mob. Children being children they all just start playing from the get-go.
After dinner has been cleared it is time for the last activity of the day, and one of the ones Sienna has been looking forward to - squid fishing. It's now 9pm as about 10 of us stand at the back of Dragon Legend, bamboo rods with a luminous rubber bait, dropping and flicking up repeatedly in the water.
Two years ago Sienna caught a couple of squid and sure enough she's the first to do so tonight, although she instantly gets pangs of regret at the same time as holding the squid. Her new friend Jessie also captures one while the rest of us draw a blank. After half an hour we call it a night and head to our comfy beds.
