Thursday, 1Feb07

Highlights: Ha Long Bay Junket tour, Cua Van floating village

We booked a 2-day tour on a junket boat on Ha Long Bay; which is a 3 ½ hour drive from Hanoi. A van fetched us from the hotel at 8:30, and by noon we were boarding a little motorized rowboat, taking us out to our very own private Junket. Meg and Anna had booked through a different company- so today it was Lou, Sar & myself.

It was hard to conceptualize what a junket was from the photo at the hotel, but it shaped up to be quite nice. A 3 story house-boat basically, with a crew of 7, and 6 private cabins. For $100, our tour is an over-nighter. Lou & Sar are splitting a double-bed room for $75 each.

Our guide is “Nam”,,, a 23 year old local, working his way through his final year in college. He’s a good tour guide. (=

At first the bay looked somewhat hazy, and the strong winds whipping over the top kept us inside. Within the first 30 minutes under-way, we were served a 7 course lunch… which was fresh & delicious

The sky cleared up a little later and the wind died down, just as we were nearing our first set of caves.