Day Four – Back Flips, Kayaks and Limestone Pillar Islands (Return Halong Bay Travelogues)

This is an entry about Ben’s day trip to Halong Bay in his Vietnam travel. Feeling the peace of the bay, discovering the miraculous of it by kayaking!

June 12th, 2007

We’d been drinking, Danny and I, perhaps a little too much to be jumping off Junk boats but man it was fun! Danny’s all-American, ‘Now that’s what I’m talking about’ enthusiasm is what my trip has so far been missing. Bewailing the fact that our Junk boat, the perfect setting to get down to some serious partying, is slightly lacking in hip young party enthusiasts – Danny and I were the only folk on deck and it was only 9:30 – a night swim was the only answer. It was a good idea. The water was deliriously refreshing in the tropical heat and gave my fading brain a much-needed wake up call. The idea of swimming to party at one of the other boats docked nearby was raised, but there was nothing going on there either. So jumping off those sweeping Junk boat eaves was really the only answer.

Off the first deck was easy, the second a little daunting and the third, climbing up on the roof, well… there’s really no better way to feel like you’re truly living again. If ever there was a thing to do with your favorite party people, 16 of you in a 6 cabin Junk boat on Halong Bay - cruising, kayaking, visiting beaches and exploring caves and tunnel networks by day and partying on deck by night – is really worthy of consideration.

I went kayaking today – fulfilled one of my Vietnam dreams: paddled through limestone pillar islands, explored deep dark tunnels emerging in isolated lagoons or to be faced with fresh, new karst island formations. It was brilliant.

When I got back on board, a new batch of tourists had joined us. It was then that I met Danny and Sharon, a couple from Alabama and Pennsylvania respectively. Within no time we were drinking and shooting the breeze