Halong Bay, Vietnam

February 11, 2015

We are going to begin this posting with something we read the other day aboard our ship that really resonated with us. This quote may give you some insight into the wanderlust that overtakes us on a regular basis. This is from Michael Palin of Monty Python fame:

"Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote and I know I shall be happily infected until the end of my life."

Wednesday morning we entered Halong Bay in north Vietnam, a world heritage site made up of over 2000 stark, stone islands jutting out of the sea like stalactites (or is it stalagmites?) in a cave. It was a foggy morning so there was an etheral feeling to the view from our balcony. Ordinarily a local pilot boards the ship about 20 minutes before entering a port to help guide the captain. On this morning the pilot was on board two and half hours ahead of time indicating the perilous nature of entering Halong Bay. We anchored in the bay at 1:00 p.m. and the tendering process began for those wanting to go ashore. There is actually no port, as such, in Halong Bay so our lifeboats are used for the 15 minute transfer to land. The reason for this port of call is Hanoi. Unfortunately, Hanoi is a three hour bus ride from Halong Bay so we chose not to go there. Instead, we spent Thursday lounging around the ship. Actually, Lynda spent Thursday afternoon lounging while Tim took the tender ashore to find a free wifi connection. Wifi aboard ship is slow and expensive so we look for free wifi on shore anytime we can. Directly across the street from where the tender docked Tim found a bar that fit the bill and spent a relaxing hour drinking excellent local beer and catching up on e-mail, blog posting, etc. It's dirty work but someone must do it!

Friday morning we took a tour through the Vietnam countryside to a small village located in the mountains about 30 miles from Halong Bay. The countryside really was quite beautiful. Located in the village was a breathtaking Buddhist Temple. It was the setting for this temple that made it special. Its location in the lush mountain greenery with numerous flowering plants on the grounds almost made one want to convert. After leaving the temple we were taken to a family home in the village. Our guide must have called ahead because our hostess had warm tea ready for us. In Vietnam families live together. In this home was the Grandmother, her daughter and husband, and her grandson. Nothing was said of a Grandfather so we assume he was deceased. Several of our guides have told us of this family custom and that in the homes where there is a Grandfather, he is revered as the patriarch of the family. Tim wishes! We did not get inside the house but saw where ducks, geese and chickens were raised as well as the rice fields the family tended. The poultry was either used by the family or sold for income. In order for the family to be able to afford this house the husband worked during the week in Halong Bay to supplement their income from their small farm. We are sure that the cruise line pays them quite nicely as well for hosting us. When we left the village we were taken back to Halong Bay where we visited the central market. Normally, we enjoy these markets, but this one was quite grungy and foul smelling, especially since local fishermen were cleaning and selling their catches. Not exactly a Chamber of Commerce moment. Quite incongruously, there was an upscale mall located next to the market where we picked up a few snacky items for our cabin.

We occasionally read our past blogs to relive our trips. During a recent reading we noticed that food seemed to play a major role in the blog so we consciously decided not to mention food so much in blogging about this trip. However, we must tell you about our meal Thursday night aboard ship. We went to one of the specialty restaurants called Qsine. It advertises itself as "a uniquely, unordinary culinary experience." It was all that and more. The decor was very contemporary and hip and from the start we knew it was going to be relaxing and fun. Our waiter, who said he was our "culinary guide" for the evening gave us each an ipad that served as our menu. We were to chose as many courses as we wanted that we would share.  We added items to our "favorites list" and then gave the ipads back to our culinary guide.  No need for him to write down our order. Out of twenty possibilities, we agreed on six courses: a salad, a shrimp starter, a crab starter, a meatball trio (beef, veal, and turkey), a filet mignon, and crunchy munchies which consisted of several different types of french fries including sweet potato fries. The portions were small and the presentation was whimsical. For example, the "Disco shrimp" was served in a glass dish with what appeared to be a blue-lit glacier in the bottom with a conical dish above containing avocado cubes with shrimp salad on top. Our servers went out of their way to make the meal a fun experience.  When it was time to order dessert we were given cubes that reminded us of a Rubik's Cubes. We opened the cube in various different ways to find the dessert offerings. Lynda settled on the Qsine suprise that ended up being a macadamian nut concoction with vanilla ice cream. Tim ordered what was called a "cupcake affair." When his dessert was delivered to the table it looked like a big box that actually was three boxes stacked on top of each other. One contained a red velvet and a vanilla cupcake without frosting; the next box contained three small pastry funnels with frosting in them (peanut, strawberry, and nutella frosting); the third box had three cups containing colorful sprinkles, chocolate pearls, and sugary crystals. Tim had great fun preparing each of his cupcakes. We agreed this would be an excellent idea for a children's birthday party. The meal certainly lived up to its advertisement. Later we enjoyed a very good musical/dance review called iBroadway in the theater. A very enjoyable evening.