Doug bought two tickets for us to take a boat trip that toured four of the islands near Nha Trang. We put on our swimming suits and grabbed our towels for a day on the boat. Owned and operated by Mister Lum, the boat trip was great fun.
The trip starts out at about nine o’clock in the morning, give or take an hour. They send a van around to pick you up at your hotel, by arrangement, and deposit you at the public harbor. The boat is set up for sightseeing and holds about 20 or 30 passengers. It was interesting that several people went on the boat trip who got terribly seasick – I mean, if you knew you got seasick, why would you pay to go out on a boat all day and then get mad at the skipper?
The boat finally took off and about an hour later we arrived at the first island, where they moored the boat near the rocky coastline of the island in a good snorkeling spot. Most of the passengers hopped out for a swim in the warm waters of the South China Sea. The crew threw us each a floating ring and they also provided snorkeling masks and breathing pipes. If you want to have good equipment, take your own goggles, because theirs aren’t the greatest. But we all had a great time snorkeling and checking out the coral and little fishes. After an hour of swimming we all climbed back on board and set out for the next island.
By now it was getting close to noon, so the crew began preparing a lunch. As lunchtime approached they turned the center benches into a long, wide table and set out a delicious spread of chow mein, fried rice, shrimp, beef, chicken, vegetables, spring rolls and more. If you wanted a coke or beer you had to pay a buck or some such, but most everything was provided.
When lunch was through they cleaned up the dishes, then pulled out instruments and began to play. The cook had a set of pots and pans he turned over and spoons to beat with to create a set of drums. Mister Lum had a guitar and donned a pair of shades. They played a song for many of the different nationalities onboard. For the Americans they played “Twist and Shout.”
After lunch and entertainment we climbed back into the water for the “floating bar.” Mister Lum had a big ring specially designed for dispensing spirits and pineapple. Although we don’t drink, we got out and splashed around with the rest of the passengers and it was alot of fun. If you swam too far away from the party, however, a worried crew would call you back over. Apparently there are sharks in the water and it is much safer to stay in a group, as the sharks prefer to pick off lone swimmers. Yikes!
Eventually we got back into the boat for the trip to the third island, which is owned by the Vietnamese government. Apparently they are promoting this island among the tourists because they want to make some income from the gate. The boats dock there and you have a choice of remaining on the boat or paying a fee to disembark. The fee is nominal, however, so Doug and I got off the boat and walked around the island. The visit there lasted for a little over an hour and, if you wanted, you could rent a jetski and take a spin out on the ocean. The Vietnamese tourists were renting the jetskis, then divvying them up among three or four people to make it affordable, because it was about a buck a minute to rent one.
We sat down on a couple of chairs along the beach for a few minutes. Next thing we knew there was a government man there asking us for money to rent the chairs in which we were seated. It was only a few quarters, so we rented our chairs, but we got a kick out of that.
The crew called to us and we boarded the boat again for the trip to the fourth island. We didn’t get off on the fourth island, but rather moored there to take photographs of the women in the round boats. Of course, Doug and I were already old pros with the round boats, because he had hired a boy to take us each for a ride in one the day before at Bao Dai’s private harbor. In any event, we really enjoyed just looking at the beautiful children and exotic women who paddled their boats around in the harbor.
After a half an hour of taking photos our boat departed the fishing village for Nha Trang Harbor. We walked back to our hotel room and nursed our sunburns for the next few days. The boat trip was one of the most delightful things we did during our stay in Vietnam. Price per person: $5 US, which included lunch and a shuttle to and from the boat.
(source: www.northvalleyroads.com)
Situated in the north-east region of Viet Nam, Ha Long Bay covers a total area of 1,553km², including 1,969 islands of various sizes. The beauty of Ha Long Bay consists in the forms of its mountains, islands and the color of its waters. While exploring the bay, tourists will feel lost in a legendary world of stone islands whose shapes change depending on angle and light and names given according to their shapes and forms and they are astonished by rich system of grottoes and caves which are grandiose and refined natural architectural creations. Ha Long is considered as a precious geological museum that has been naturally preserved in the open air for hundreds million years.
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