On our hours of bus ride, we had a short stop at a craft shop...an overprice shop. Tour agent should have avoided this as they are scaring every tourist off. Everything was sold 3 to 4 times the usual price....my yam ice cream was 3 fold.
We finally arrived at Halong City at about 11.30am. The harbour was really happening. Huge tourist crowds and tens or hundreds of big and small junk cruises and boats at the harbour. It didn't look as good as we expected for the smoky sky. However the expression of those returning ones ensure us on the total fun we could have here.
We finally being transfered into our junk cruise, Imperial Cruise on a smaller boat. The Imperial Junk was beyond my expectation. With as little as USD97 for 3 days/2 nights, I was expecting something more economical. Our rooms were all with a/c and water heater. The bed were comfortable and clean as well. It was better than APTez in Hanoi City.
On board, we were welcomed by the crew and each being given a cold towel and welcoming tea...kind of like the mild flower aroma of the tea. After the drink, we were served with lunch. As usual, we have French fries, fried spring roll, fried cabbage and fried chicken with onion but this meal was outstanding with the fresh seafood and tasted to our liking. We loved the squid, fish cakes and spring rolls...satisfying meal!
While we were enjoying our lunch, the cruise was sailing towards the Sung Sot Cave aka the Amazing Cave. The sky got clearer and we got better view as we got further away from the harbour. We finally disembarked from the cruise and started our hike...it was more of a walk with occasional stair steps than a hike. The cave has few huge chambers filled with all sorts of natural formation resembling the shape of dragon, forest, tortoise, elephant, Buddha and etc. It was nicely light...humid and cold...unlike in Gua Tempurung. The view from the top overlooking the small islands and floating house in Halong Bay was an enjoyable one.
Next activity was the kayaking. This was the best activity on board. I got on a solo kayak....was really fast on it as the water is calmer than the Batu Ferringhi shore. We enjoyed kayaking despite witnessing a kayak overturned by the waves of a moving huge junk. We also witnessed how fast the crew responded. We enjoyed kayaking and wished we could have longer time here but without those junk around.
Back in our cruise, we saw 'Ang Mo's enjoyed their swim so HJ and I dared to follow but not daring enough to leave our life jacket behind. When we got into water, we got shock. The swim seemed harder than we have imagined. The wave was too strong for us. It swapped us on our face. We struggled to swim to the front of the junk...15 minutes in the water seemed like hours on shore.
After refreshing up, we went to the upper deck for sun set. It was not very nice as it was blocked by the many 'Long's there. We enjoyed the breeze and scenery and wait till the moon moved in with a can of Hanoi Beer on hand...beer was one of the cheapest drink on the menu despite the pricey menu, it was still relatively cheap compared to in Malaysia.
For dinner, we got to enjoy BBQ food...yummy seafood, the squid was exceptionally juicy and tender. The salad was good too. With another can of beer, the meal is perfect till I retired to my room for a hotel shower.
Back on the deck and tried to fish for squid. Finally heard that it takes time for the light to play its role to attract the squid. Left idle for an hour while we were on cards. When we were back on jarrod, there were fishes and squids around. when SY finally got the squid on hook, suddenly the light just dropped and gave us all a shock. That ends our day.
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