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Our Halong Bay Trip was Very Enjoyable indeed. Looking through recommended tour opperators we went to ET Pumpkin. The tour guy suggested a trip and boat that was much cheaper than we expected to pay, and way less than we were willing to pay. $138 each seemed like a bargain, but had us worried we had booked a s***ty boat or something. We were so worried we went back to ET Pumpkin later to ask for a more expensive cruise. The guy assured us the trip we had booked would be great, so we stuck with it.
We were picked up on time in a bus with about 14 other people on. Which was assuring the boat would not be rammed full. The weather was slightly sunnier when we got to halong bay, but still a lot cooler than we had got used to in the far east. Off the bus we got and onto the smallish boat which would take us to our "junk" boat. The junk boat was very clean inside and the cabin was great. A large window with the most amazing view as we put our things away. Up we went to have lunch, where everyone was seated based on being vegetarian or meat eater. Which actually really helped with the breaking of the ice, as it de coupled everyone.
We ate as we sailed to the the first of our planned excursions which was Ti Top island. Which was about 400 steps to the top to get a great view of the bay around us. Then we went to an enormous cave on another island , that took a good 50 mins to walk through. The highlight of the day activities was kayacking around sunset. When I saw one of the greastest ever sunset's in my life. Unfortunatley our cameras were tucked into a waterproof bag, so no photos. I will never forget it though, the biggest most orange Sun, going behind a Halong Bay island. Amazing!
Dinner was pretty similar to lunch, but with it being Xmas eve, it seemed everyone was looking forward to having a drink or 2. lol Happy hour and half price cocktails was extended all night for xmas. The music got louder and a couple of Dutch people taught us the meaning of the word Swaffelen.Was so hilarious! Dutch word of the year 2012 apparentley. Google it lol. I drank just a little bit too much and had a stinking hangover in the morning. Angela wasn't as bad.The people who were doing the 3 day 2 night , were move to a smaller boat for the day. Sadly we said our goodbyes to the people we had fun with the night before, and only a couple of us were moved to the new boat. Fortunatley one of the people we had befriended was with us on the boat.
We had a few more enjoyable trips today. Climbing up a pretty craggy rock face on Monkey island, cycling round Cat ba island then back to the small boat for lunch. The lunch was fantstic! the best meal of the 3 days. All made be an old lady in a tiny kitchen on her own. So Delicious! we ate as we sailed around to the hotel we would be staying at that night. Which was great, considering how cheap the overall trip was. A very comfortable room. After a nap we had dinner in the hotel, which was pretty basic considering what we had for lunch. We befriended a couple more Dutch people and immediatley brought up swaffelen, which became the joking point for the the night, when we found a bar with a decent pool table.
The 3rd morning was hangover free. i learnt my lesson! lol We had breakfast and sailed to the big boat and back to the mainland, The weather was a little crappy, but Halong Bay still looked amazing behind the mist and fog. All in all the trip was great value for money. Even if one or 2 dinners were basic. The sights we saw and the people we met will be a lasting memory.
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