‘Booze Cruising’ in Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay (picture from Internet)

After exploring Hanoi and getting a grip on the drop in temperature, Leo and I signed up for a 2 night, 3-day boat trip on Ha Long Bay, literally meaning “Descending Dragon Bay” in Vietnamese. With its thousands of limestone rock formations, called karsts, jutting straight out of the water with trees and vines clinging to their surface and caves scooped out at the bottom so they sometimes look like they’re floating, you can see why it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We boarded our boat with about 60 other travelers and sailed out into the mists. Just about a month before there had been an accident on the bay and a tourist boat sunk, killing twelve tourists, so security was very tight getting in and out of the harbor.

The cave we kayaked to

This was not your typical tour of the bay of course since we had booked through our hostel. I think everyone on board was under 30 and it quickly turned into more of a ‘booze cruise’. It was not like the pictures on the posters where everyone was in their bikinis out in the sun though; the only people who went up the ‘sun’ deck were those having a smoke. It was freezing!

Partying with new friends on the boat

Leo and I shared a room that was quite cozy, but outside the cold sinking in. We needed a way to warm up so we all cracked a few beers. When the boat made anchor in the middle of mists and jagged islands, and we were told this was the part where we could swim, everyone looked skeptical. Then the guys decided that we were in Ha Long Bay and to hell with it and started jumping overboard. I still had about 3 layers of clothes on and was not about to change that, but when I was told that the first girl to get in got a beer on the house (c’mon, they were expensive!) I went to change. By the time I got back I had already lost that bet, but my competitive side came out and I changed that by doing a back flip off the railing. About 20 feet down I hit the water and my breath caught. SO NOT WORTH IT! The water was like ice, and it’s not like I needed a refresher in the first place! Climbing up the side of the ship with blue lips, I didn’t even smile when the guys high fived me. GET ME A TOWEL!

Next up: canoeing. Seeing that I was already wet, it actually felt warmer in the canoe. We all partnered up and paddled off to explore the cliffs and the caves. We stopped at one that was particularly big to have a look around. While we were out there, small boats would come up to us trying to sell things, there was a little girl about 5 years old with her mom trying to sell us beer. Everything out here is floating on water, even villages. Some people born out here rarely set foot on land and survive by fishing and trading goods.

Our huts on Castaway Island

Later that evening after we ad all eaten and warmed up a bit, we were roped into playing drinking games. I don’t remember if they had warned us about the early wakeup call, or f everyone had forgotten, but when they started banging on doors and ringing doorbells that played “Fur Elise,” no one was a happy camper. We all stumbled out of bed and were determined to go back to our cozy courters the moment we got some coffee and grub. Not a chance. They were already cleaning our rooms getting ready for the next group of travelers! We all sat around, some of us with our heads on the tables trying to make up for lost sleep. Half the group would be returning to Hanoi and the other half of us were traveling on to Castaway Island, a small private island that the company paid a rent under the table to have access to. The island had a small beach; volleyball net, canoes, and a communal area were we ate dinner together. Along a path there were bamboo huts low to the ground so that you had to crawl into them. We all took our pick, Leo and I sharing with the only other four girls and tried to make it cozy. I think the entire trip I wore all my layers of clothing, only taking them off to take a shower once (and jump overboard). Later I went and watched a very entertaining game of volleyball (hilarious because one guy took it very seriously when everyone else was just having fun and the British guy sitting next to me kept whispering a running commentary to me that made me almost die laughing). It was a slower night of drinking that night, but a night of drinking nonetheless and when it started raining I was happy that our huts were a foot off the wet ground. I hunkered down and actually had an unexpectedly pleasant sleep.

By the time we got back to the Backpackers Hostel in Hanoi, we had just enough time to get in a hot shower and eat before undertaking our first overnight bus in Vietnam.