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Today we woke up refreshed and lovely from yet another cool and comfortable sleep. We headed for breakfast but the restaurant was full so we enjoyed our breakfast initially in the lobby before moving to the restaurant. Here I enjoyed an omelette and Steven beef noodles despite ordering chicken, we were then given a club sandwich instead of pancakes but hey ho... We must have looked like right pigs. After breakfast we resided ourselves to the fact that today we HAD to make a decision about the Ha Long bay cruise. The whole process is so daunting with hundreds of boats, companies and price ranges... You can get a three day cruise for as little as sixty dollars or pay as much as a thousand or more. We were unsure as we didn't want to skimp to much and end up on a dangerous boat but obviously couldn't afford a lot... And that's without the added fear of being scammed.
I had seen a company called 'IndoChina Junks' and found them to be amazing, I had read really good reviews and had a good feeling about them especially as they take you out of the tourist trap area and off into the 'real' Ha Long Bay where its quiet and serene... However at two hundred and fifty dollars each it was very pricey. We had a chat with one of the guys in reception and he went through a few options with us... One being just over one hundred dollars, one at one hundred and fifty and one at two hundred and seventy. I review them and looked at the itineraries and such but felt no pull to any of them... The one hundred and fifty dollar one was a party boat and despite being assured it wasn't actually a party boat, the reviews online suggested otherwise and it sounded like a weekend in Magaluf. Saying that the two hundred and seventy option didn't compare with the IndoChina boat (number one of tripadvisor) and was a bit pricey regardless. We uum'ed and aahh'ed all day and were no nearer to a decision.
We decided to go out and clear our heads... We had already arranged to stay another night at hotel for the same price so no decision had to made yet. We wandered through the old quarter and down towards the opera house where we saw a wedding taking place, before heading back up towards the lake where we stopped for a beer. We then wandered home none the wiser to research a little more... We asked the reception guy about IndoChina and they said they don't deal with them as they have their own office. We decided to bite the bullet and head to the office, by now it was just before four pm and the hotel needed a decision before five if we were to sail tomorrow. We headed out armed with a map and went north in search of the office, half an hour later and a few wrong turns and we were suddenly standing outside a very plush office.
We headed in and sat down opposite a poor girl suffering with a head cold... Little did she know what was coming haha. We asked her about the cruises and availability for the two night three day cruise, to which she replied they were fully booked except for one cabin on the dragons pearl, which is a ten cabin boat and takes twenty passengers. The only problem was that the cabin was being held for a couple in a hotel close by who were yet to decide if they wanted it... She was just awaiting the call back. We decided to sit and wait and in the meantime she showed us the boat, cabins and intinery.... Torture to be honest before the phone rang confirming that the couple wished to take the cabin.
Deflated we asked when the next available cabin was avaliable and were informed it wasn't until the tenth of June, which was ages away and we couldn't possibly stay in Hanoi or even Sapa (our destination post Ha Long) for ten days. The only other option was either a one cabin boat, which was way way way way out of our price range or a village stay on one of the nights. I wasn't interested in either so we sat and debated... The poor girl didn't know what to do with us and we kept laughing at the situation. Losing the cabin had made me realised how much I wanted that company and I was a bit gutted. Suddenly the phone went and it turned out the couple who had booked the cabin had suddenly had a change of heart and no longer wanted to go. I was almost giddy with excitement and we took it straight away, the next problem being the payment. They required a one hundred dollar deposit, which we didn't have with us and after some smiling she laughed and said how much have you got to which we replied five hundred thousand dong (about twenty three dollars) she laughed, checked with her manager and said okay. You could tell they didn't normally deal with people like us, we had planned to put it on my 'emergency card' but I couldn't remember the pin, plus my debit card was out of date and we didn't have enough on our prepaid cards... Mmm. She said we could pay the remainder tomorrow in the port and we thanked her gracefully. She then asked if we had any special occasions and we said it was my birthday to which she allowed us to bring some wine with us (normally charge corkage). We said thank you, thanked her again and left wandering how we would now find five hundred dollars.
On returning to our hotel, the manager asked if we had decided on our cruise to which we replied we had just booked our original choice. He said we should have said as he could get discount (he couldn't) and to that I told him I had asked his staff earlier and they said they never dealt with them. We then asked to pay our bill and were accused of drinking from the mini bar... Here we go again. We were adamant we hadn't and the manager said he would have to check with housekeeping in the morning before we leave to which I replied it makes no difference as we haven't.
We then headed to the room with a bitter taste after a nice weekend this had happened... However we couldn't be bothered for long as we had our cruise tomorrow and I could have a bath tonight.... Bliss.
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