Happy Wanderers: February 26, 2019 - Ha Long, Vietnam

February 26, 2019 - Ha Long, Vietnam - Tuesday, Day 51

We have never been to Ha Long before. This city on the shore of Ha Long Bay is the gateway to Hanoi. Hanoi is a 2.5 hour drive away. We will be docked here or an overnight so this is prime time for a Hanoi overnight. We decided to stay here and take a highlights tour on the first day. we would then decide whether or not to go in to Hanoi. What a good choice that was. The Trump Un summit is taking place in Hanoi.

We cruised into Ha Long Bay shortly after noon. The signature feature of the bay is the Karst outcroppings that rise above the surface. We do not understand all of the geology of this beautiful place, but we do know that these formation date back 20 million years. You remember that don’t you? These are limestone “mountains” that hardened under water over time. As a result they are not rapidly eroding as current limestone would.

The views are beautiful, but the haze that hung over the bay today made it difficult to see and appreciate this beauty. Perhaps tomorrow.

For today we are content to take the highlights tour. It started with a visit to the fish and produce market. Then we stopped at a market featuring souvenirs and fabrics. The souvenirs were made in China, and the fabrics were fake batik. We opted to buy nothing and use the restrooms.

As we approached the restroom we were stopped. the attendant wanted 3,000 Dong per person. That amounted to a total of $.25. We had no Dong (no chuckles, please) so she wanted $1 each fo Alice and me. We tried to get in for $1 for the two of us but she was adamant. A fellow cruiser, an Australian, came up. He had Dong, and paid our way. He was satisfied at relieving our need and did not want the quarter. I did not have one anyhow.

The bus now took us to the base of a high hill. A temple with good views was at the top. There was no elevator. Only steps. Alice courageously decided to make her way up. She did a great job. I am sure she knows how many steps it was, but I will not bother her for that now. It was a lot of steps. I am proud of her.

It was worth the effort. The views were good and the temple was very nice. Fortunately the steps were regular. That is to say not varying in height. They did require care as there were no railings. At least they did not require us to be athletic.

Now we proceeded to a modern shopping mall. Great washrooms. No book store. High prices. So, after a quick walk through Alice and I left and crossed the road for some pictures of the bay. The sun was getting lower an fishermen were returning to their moorings. They live on their boats and spend the nights tied up before setting out early in the morning to make their catch.

We returned to the mall to meet our guide. To our surprise there was not a passenger in sight despite it being close to the meeting time. I set out to check 2 other entrances and found no one. Finally we set to toward the last entrance. Our guide was coming toward us waving his flag. I had taken us to the wrong entrance. We were the last to board the coach. We were 5 minutes late. There were no catcalls. We were very grateful and appropriately apologetic.

In keeping with tour practice we n now went to a shop that did a presentation on pearl production. Then we were led into the showroom. We were unimpressed. The presentation we attended in Kuri Bay Australia was better done and the pearls were of far superior quality.