Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Today we woke at about seven ish, I had previously set the alarm for five thirty to catch sunrise but stuck my head out and decided that given the clouds it wasn't really worth the effort. I instead silently closed the door and headed back to bed for another hour or two, I was having such a cosy sleep. We got up at about seven thirty and headed out to sip a coffee on deck... The miners were already up and their usual lively selves so we had a brief chat with them before heading to the deck for breakfast... All we seem to do is eat.
Breakfast was thankfully light and consisted of warm baguettes with jam and butter followed by fruit and coffee as well as the richest and most buttery Danish I've ever had. After breakfast the boat set sail and we headed off further off into the bay where we would be visiting a fishing village. Apparently before the bay was made a UNESCO site in the mid nineties the communities here lived within the caves and fished the waters using dynamite... Killing tonnes of fish at a time. Since the site as become one of great heritage the government have stepped in and attempted to protect the area. The villagers were moved to live on man made floating villages and banned from the caves, they were also banned from using dynamite for fishing and instead taught how to fish safely and responsibly. The only issue with the move was that the villagers have no regard for the bay and simply see it as there home so would throw all their rubbish and such over board into the water.
One village in particular has been taken under the wing of Indochina junks and a couple of other companies providing the villages with bins and covering the costs of rubbish refuge plus educating them on the importance of keeping the bay clean. Unfortunately some of the other villages that were relocated haven't had access to such services and continue to throw their rubbish and waste into the water. Due to this behaviour the government have come to the conclusion that this can't go on and now all the water communities will be moved to the mainland in 2014 so soon the villages will be no more. On hearing his I totally disagree for a number of reasons. Firstly that these people have lived in the caves and on the water for their whole existence, how are they going to cope being uprooted and dragged to the mainland (which is a dump by the way). Secondly the people of these waters are extremely suspicious believing that eating dogs and cats is extremely bad luck and even turning a fish from one side to another is bad luck. They also use all things from this area and sea to aid them and only recently did women start to give birth in hospitals... Instead midwives would assist at home and if a problem arose an emergency speedboat would take them to the main land.
I also feel that theses communities are pretty self reliant now running fish farms and other business from where they live. The village we visited provided tours and even had a school and pearl farm, its so obvious that the government have seen how they are flourishing and earning an income from tourists and decided they now want a piece. Its even been said that once they leave, the village will stay as a tourist attraction, another way in which tourism and the greed that stems from it is affecting the innocent. To be honest in my opinion the area is beautiful and remains beautiful despite these people living here for thousands of years so they can't be doing that much damage and anyway surely a bit of education goes a long way... Or even "if you continue to throw rubbish in the sea, your moving to the city!!" Then show them the city and I guarantee they will buck up their ideas.
On arriving at the village there was a small one cabin boat moored up close by, which looked amazing next to the village, especially when they put their sails up. This was meet by obvious criticism from the annoying Aussie women who was moaning that the sails were obviously ornamental as they wouldn't do anything to assist a boat of such weight (we all knew this but let her carry on as she owned a boat so must know everything). We moored.. then jumped on the smaller boat (again in life jackets) and headed to the village, here we were met by a local chap on a bamboo basket boat who was to give us a tour. We climbed on and he instantly took a picture of us before we set off, he even gave us the Vietnamese style pointy hats to wear as it was pretty warm now. With our ill fitting Vietnamese hats well and truly on, we were rowed through the village. Some of the house looked fairly flash with some even having LCD TVs in them. We eventually moored at the tourist information centre which also acted as a "sort of" museum which documented the lives of the fisherman who habit the floating village. It was interesting but the amount of information was somewhat lacking which did not make it as informed as you could have been. Again, as in a lot of Vietnam, there is more effort out into the selling of merchandise. Laura located the village school which was closed for the summer holidays and had some photo opportunities both as student and teacher. Our boatman guided us around the beautiful bay as we continued to look daft in our stupidly big hats. At the end of the tour we were shown a brief demonstration of the planting and eventual harvesting of pearls. I never realised how delicate the process of implanting the pearl was and how it can take 2-4 years to fully develop. Laura did resist the temptations of the pearl shop however. Although she did learn that different pearls relate to how old you are so I would have to be careful now if I ever buy them!!
We eventually returned to the Dragon Pearl where we could relax until lunch service a bit later. We decided to catch some rays up on deck whilst admiring the fantastic views. Eventually lunch was served and we enjoyed various seafood dishes intertwined with salads and vegetables. After lunch the conservation was already turning to the cave dinner tonight, which everyone was looking forward to.
Our next stop was a small, rare beach located amongst the karsts which we could reach either by kayak or staying on the boat. After our infamous struggle on the kayak yesterday we decided to stay on the boat. Most of the others kayaked but we enjoyed passing them on the sun deck of the boat. Laura was doing the Queen's wave and encouraging the "common" folk as we passed, haha, was quite funny and rather nice having the whole boat to ourselves! Our boat pulled around to a clearing where an isolated beach sat the bottom of a beautiful limestone karst. There were a few deck chairs lined up along the base of the limestone wall where it met the beach. Another Indochina Junk boat was there and we were informed he company own this beach and it is exclusive to them. Our ferry boat took us over and we landed on the beach. The feeling of sand was most welcoming after our long beach drought we have suffered recently. The sand did make the weird squelching however when you walked on it, was something neither of us had experienced. Rob (the Australian) explained this noise occurs with a lot of Australian beaches and is relatively exclusive. He hypothesised the sand here is imported which did make sense as it hard to imagine beaches forming naturally under these cliffs.
We spent the best part of two hours swimming and enjoying the magnificent orange sunset. The crew even put the junk sails up for photographs, after much encouragement from us, Laura especially who then thanked them with a rowdy applause. We noted the cave was located of the cliff so we would be spending the rest offer night here and soon enough it was time to shower before dinner.
By the time we showered, night fall was upon us and lights the visible on the cliff obviously guiding the way up to the cave. It did look quite magical. Us and our motley crew headed back to island and climbed off the boat across a wooden plank and a handrail that consisted of two crew members holding a bamboo stick... we then made the short climb up to the cave. We headed inside ducking our heads and made our way into a large chamber where we were given a spectacular welcome. The cave was lit in candlelight with a long table down the middle. The cave ceiling was littered with cut stalactites and stalagmites which against the light made a dramatic and breathtaking setting. The boat crew were lined down the steps leading to the table and clapped us all in, was really quite something. We eventually managed to take our seats and the wine soon followed (that Rob and Jenny treated us to... A lovely gesture).
The meal consisted of various courses of BBQ meat and seafood which was a beautifully seared and really tasty... Laura particularly liked the calamari but it was a tad chewy (although its pretty rare to get amazingly soft calamari even in the priciest places we have visited previously). The food was plentiful and also consisted of rice and sweet potatoes... Although they were pretty dry but I guess BBQ is quite tricky especially in a cave, Laura didn't mind though as a potato is a potato and a well missed part of her diet so she ate both of ours. Between the courses the chef kept bringing out hand carved fruit and vegetable sculptures and they were pretty amazing... there was a pair of swans, a large pumpkin junk boat and even a dragon... amazing! Overall the dinner was beautiful and the setting was amazing plus we were blessed with our group who were all really friendly. At the end of the meal the honeymooners were presented with a big delicious looking cake and a romantic speech from the guide... the crew them cut the cake and shared amongst the group... not even serving them first lol. Laura then got a little surprise of her own in the form of a birthday present from the crew and everyone singing 'happy birthday'. The gift was a beautiful big polished sea shell in a red, heart shaped box and Laura loved it especially as she is collecting shells. It was a really nice end to the evening!
Soon dinner was over so after some speeches from the captain and guide we explored the cave and took some pictures before heading back through the smaller cave (where two honeymooners were eating... Awkward) and headed back down to the beach and ultimately the boat. By now I was feeling quite tired and enjoyed lounging on the deck under the stars with a cup of coffee. It was sad to know tonight was the last one we would spend on the boat.
- comments