Monday, January 15, 2018

Monday, January 15, 2018

dragon descending

Posted by Hippobean at 11:55 PM
HạLong Bay (ha = descend or below long= dragon, like in chinese) - a 4 hours minibus ride brought us to the halong bay harbor and the sun peeked out every now and then. We had the entire boat to ourselves. lunch was steamed whole shrimps with the heads on, deep fried spring rolls, grilled calamary, cucumber and tomato salad, a pork dish and warm cabbage salad. With steamed rice of course. It was one of the best seafood meal I've ever had. After lunch, we went on the top deck to admire the stunning bay with its emerald waters and the thousands limestone peaks while we cruised the bay. It was cold, sky grey but just a little wind as the boat wasnt going fast. In fact I much prefer the weather like this as the peaks looked more romantic in the mist. I probably wouldnt have like the bay more in full sunshine. In the afternoon we got on the ferry and met up with a fishing boat and banged bamboo sticks to scary the fish. It turned out, the fisherman had lowered a fishing net a few feet from the boat so the noise would scare the fish to swim away from it and get caught in the net. True enough, when the fisherman pulled the net, we got prawns so huge I've never seen anything like it before, small flat fish and crabs. next we visited the sung sot cave, not the deepest I've been in, but the main chamber so vast, it blew me away. the cave ceiling resembled desert sand floor. very interesting and quite impressive. I've enjoyed this cave very much. Back on the boat, I had a steamy hot shower. The room although tiny, the bathroom was actually quite spacious for a boat bathroom and with a good size shower stall. By the evening all the boats parked in a designated area for the night. Dinner was pan fried prawns, with heads on of course, grilled oysters wrapped in foils, crab meat on sticks, papaya and carrot salad, cold cabbage salad, whole fish from the bay covered in a fishing net made of carrot, and yellow curry chicken. And the customary steamed rice. I'd never eaten so well. The Brits were practicing salsa after dinner and then took turn playing their favorite songs from their phones and we did 'name that song'. After everyone called it a night, I went on deck to commune with the night sky, the quiet and the smell and ambience of the bay. Although the sky was grey, some stars were out. Quite a magical nite, stars abound, flat quiet water, nearby boats illuminated, and the sound of distant music. Peaks all around in silhouette. Loved nights like these.


HạLong Bay photos:

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