Boat Trip

I try not to pay any attention, but the girl is so annoying that it's almost impossible to switch off.  For the last 30 minutes she has been holding court among a group of about 5 other girls and pontificating about Vietnam and Vietnamese people.  They are so this and they are so that.  Two hours earlier, the same girl had enlightened everyone on the bus that she had only been in Vietnam for a grand total of three days.  God, I hate some backpackers.

Much to my surprise when embarking upon my little trip, Vietnam is much more 'touristy' than I could have imagined.  Where once Vietnam was championed as an alternative to Thailand, nowadays it is very much a mirror of its fellow South-East Asian cousin.  Wherever you turn, you are sure to bump into a package tour group or a gap-year student trying to 'find themselves' while funded by mum and dad back home.

In Hanoi, I had booked myself on a one-night tour to Ha Long Bay which involved a bus journey to the coast, a visit to the caves, a night aboard a junk, kayaking and all meals.  All for $30.  I had heard that it was almost impossible to do this independently as the whole Ha Long experience had been monopolised and was in the hands of the 'tourism mafia.'  Initially, the bus journey down was quite pleasant with everyone looking forward to the trip.  That was until the blonde girl halfway down the bus piped up and decided to give everyone a full account of herself.

Unfortunately, she turned out to be the rule rather than the exception on this trip.  A minute couldn't pass without someone trying to one-up someone else's story or experience.  For the evening, night and morning on the boat, some incredible scenery went by with most people barely giving it a moment's thought.  Rather than check out the place they had come to visit, mass pissing contests would break out over stamps in passports, how much people had paid for various items and who was having the most fun/worst time.  I have nothing against travel stories.  In fact, I love a good story that is told well and gives me a taste of something new.  I write a travel blog, so maybe I can be accused of double-standards, but I've always tried to stay away from the 'look at me' side of things and simply share my experiences.  Maybe I'm just turning in to a grumpy old man!

Anyway, back to the real star of the show; Ha Long Bay.  Off the east coast of Vietnam, the 150km coastline stretches all the way down from China.  The limestone peaks very much reminiscent of those in Yunnan province, China.  The distinct shapes formed over many many years of erosion.  Sitting on deck with my earphones in an my ipod turned up to 11, I watched the world go by and marvelled at how amazing nature can be.  With the sun high in the sky, the sea sparkled and the fishing villages that the boat passed looked tiny and insignificant in comparison to their surroundings.  Watching the locals go about their day with such an impressive backdrop made me feel jealous for the simple beauty of it all.  In the meantime, a group of German guys were doing their best to impress some Icelandic girls with stories of their prowess in some completely fabricated situation or other.

Would I recommend Ha Long Bay to other tourists?  I think the answer can only ever be yes.  The stunning scenery and the fairly impressive caves with their stalagmites are definitely things that put the area on the map and it can be no surprise that Ha Long Bay was thrust into the limelight via the "New 7 Wonders of the World" campaign a couple of years ago.  Just remember to recharge your mp3 player and hope you get a good crowd of people as fellow passengers.  You know those travellers who bang on about how much better things were in the past?  They too annoy the hell out of me, but on this occassion, unfortunately, I feel they would be right.