Happy birthday, Fata! :)
To start, the bus pick-up to Halong Bay was 20 minutes late, 'cos there was a delay at one of the earlier pick-up places. Oh well...
The drive to Halong Bay was supposed to take about 3+hours, but there was standstill traffic at a road, and all the buses heading for Halong Bay made u-turns. Oh well...
Reaching the tourist-laden pier for our Halong Bay cruise, had to take a connecting smaller boat to the larger overnight boat, very much like the connecting boats we take to Kaleebso :)
We we lucky yo get on Phoenix Cruises' largest boat, the room was tight but comfortable. The bathroon had a rain shower too. Nice :)
I didn't like the set-up in the dining area, not at all flexible, they have more tables then are set up, and people are made to play musical chairs to accomodate families and couples... Lunch was not good, and we soon found out that all the meals weren't any good at all :(
After lunch, we took the smaller boat to a cave walkabout. Pretty, but nothing extraordinary. oh well...
It was really sweet at dinner time when the boat presented Fata with a birthday cake & flowers. And another couple who were there on their honeymoon, also got cake & flowers. The rest of the evening was spent chatting with Kurt & Evie from Belgium.
The next day was quite a rush, 7am - breakfast, 8am - kayaking & 9am - springroll making class. Breakfast wasn't any good, as usual. Kayaking was uninteresting as we went to places where the main boat had gone before, plus the guide didn't tell us what we were supposed to do, nor provide any instructions on kayaking [like getting in / out of the kayak, how to paddle... all they keep telling us is to NOT loose the paddles 'cos they're US$20 each :( ]
When we were rushed back to the main boat, we were given 15mins to freshen up and check out 'cos the rooms had to be cleaned... oh well...
Thankfully, the springroll making class was somewhat fun. By the way, did I mention that the large boat that we were on had engine probolems overnight? The 3 couples going for the 2-night cruise had to be transferred to another boat... oh well...
Oh yes, the springrolls... while the class went on, we noticed that a boat had pulled up on either side of us to tow us back to the pier. It was interesting to see the differences between the 3 boats. Ours was definitely the biggest, with an extra level.
The boat on our right (starboard side) was filled with very hungover looking young people. The boat on our left (port side) was filled older people wearing big hats :P
I feel that Halong Bay is in the same category as the Water Puppet Show, a one-time deal. But we met people who have been to Halong Bay multiple times :) oh well...
This trip to Halong Bay reminds me of the getaway we had in Sentosa earlier this year, but at least this one's in-and-out in 24 hours :P
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