Goldring Travel’s AMAWaterways’ AmaLotus – Vietnam, Cambodia and The Mekong River Cruise- Part VII (Halong Bay…and A Monk)

Our last night in Hanoi was quiet as our plans to walk to a small café somewhere were literally rained out.  It poured.  There was thunder and lightning.  And then it did it again and again.  Hence, the Sofitel Metropole bar was our destination.  A nice time, but also a bit of a minor disappointment.  It happens. 

It is the first time in a very long time I had to do the “pack up and put your bags outside your door by 6:30 a.m.” thing.  I am not loving the sort of living out of a suitcase aspect of this portion of the trip, but it is a minor inconvenience; especially since this trip is so informal.   (Note:  You are asked to take only an overnight bag to the junk on Halong Bay.  We were fine, but a number of guests were not aware of this and were not prepared with an overnight bag of any sort.  A note would be a simple fix to what, as you will see, is actually a very convenient and logical system.)

After another wonderful breakfast it was time to get on a bus for a relatively short-in-distance drive to Halong Bay.  As quickly…or not so quickly…became clear, Vietnam is a place where travel between two points (airport to city or Hanoi to Halong Bay) is measured in time.  This is because of single lane “highways” of varying quality and a maximum 40 kilometer per hour speed limit.  So our trip took, including a mandatory stop at a clearly government -sponsored souvenir shop, almost 4.5 hours.  It was about an hour longer than advertised because we wound up behind two very slow moving vehicles for quite a distance.

Along the way we saw a Buddist monk who is traveling throughout Vietnam seemingly touching his nose to the ground every few steps.  Crowds gather honoring him as he reaches their small towns.

We finally arrived in Halong Bay.   The bay is filled with thousands of limestone outcrops or islands that rise out of the sea.  The bay is truly beautiful.  The cloudy skies beckoned a real threat of more rain.  We quickly boarded our ship, Indochina Sails IV, which – kept in perspective – is truly is a “luxury” junk.  The main deck is the dining room aft and lounge forward with two decks of cabins below and a large open deck (with nice wood chairs, tables and lounges above).

One disappointment is that the Vietnamese government recently ordered all of the junks in Halong Bay to be painted white…which really was a bad idea as these beautiful culturally designed boats have lost much their exterior charm.  I think some governmental official thought painting them white would make them look like yachts or mini-cruise ships and, therefore, more attractive to Western tastes.  In fact, as a yachtie and a cruise person, I look around our ship – clearly the nicest around – and see white overspray everywhere as the mandate was begrudgingly complied with similar defeated compliance by the other junks as well.

It also struck me, after listening to our children complain a bit about the long bus ride, that the longer drives on this trip are a bit like going to Six Flags Great Adventure Amusement Park.  You spend a considerable amount of time traveling and waiting for a 2 minute ride that gives you a huge rush, and then you wait for hours again and get another rush after another 2 minute ride.  At the end of the experience you have waited more than you have been on rides, but you have had a great day.  On this trip, however, the experiences are longer and the rush will, I am sure, last a lifetime!

But I digress.  As we took in the view, a woman in a small boat came along side trying to sell potato chips, wine, beer and vodka.  It was, in contrast, one of those other moments when you see that tourism maybe doesn’t preserve that which we have come to see.  But alas I have seen the same thing all over the world.  It reminded me that Halong Bay ten years ago is probably not what it is today and that coming here now, rather than ten years from now, was a very good idea. 

Ironically, I think Halong Bay is nicer in the mist.  I decided to skip the morning trip to some cave as I was told it can get crowded with a number of junks visiting it at the same time…It just smelled “tourist” without there really being any great ecological or geological interest. Between the desire to chill (taking in the views) and not wanting to engage in a crowded venue at 7:30 a.m., discretion said to let everyone have a bit of sleep-in before our long bus ride and then flight to Seam Reap, Cambodia later in the day.

After enjoying the quiet beauty of Halong Bay, as we started to motor to port, a very nice buffet breakfast was served.  We were requested to leave our cabins by 9:30 a.m. and to give all of our liquids to the tour guide (who always seems so happy) since AmaWaterways stored our luggage while we were on the junk and checked them in directly with Vietnam Airlines.  Our guide simply gives us a bag for our liquids, puts them all together, checks them as luggage and then distributes them at the hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

AmaWaterways has a great little system that I wish I had known about in advance because it answered many questions I was pondering.  While on the junk we completed Cambodian visa applications and turned them in to our guide with the $20 per person fee.  They were paired up with our pre-junk delivery of our passports to him.  This resulted in our boarding passes for our late afternoon flight to be obtained and our luggage checked-in in advance…and after being given back our passports at the airport just long enough to clear Passport Control…we returned them to our guide so that he could obtain all of the Cambodian Visas immediately upon arrival in Siem Reap without any of us waiting in line. 

After disembarking at about 11:30 a.m. we headed off on our bus to the Ha Noi Airport, stopping at a small vegetable farm and then a golf club for a lunch.  As our flight was delayed about 1.5 hours, we had plenty of time to break up the journey and, in the end, it was actually a very easy trip; especially since our guide was so informative and personable.

When we arrived at the airport things flowed pretty much flawlessly.  A two hour flight later, we claimed our luggage (yes, it all arrived again!) and took a 20 minute ride to the Sofitel Ankor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort.  Due to our late arrival it was straight to the restaurant for an excellent buffet dinner.  I had Cambodian flat noodle soup with beef and seafood (Kuy teav?). 

At dinner our liquids were delivered to us and our luggage was delivered right to our room. 

One thing is for certain:  It is the rainy season.  The skies opened yet again, as we relaxed with a cocktail after dinner on the veranda.  

I know, however, that the rain (if it happens) is not going to spoil tomorrow when we start exploring Ankor Thom and visit the AmaWaterway’s sponsored English language school.