Notes from Halong Bay

Megan and I finished our time on the SE Asian continent in style cruising around Halong bay on a luxurious Chinese Junk. Although we weren't at any time under actual sail power it still had masts and was quite authentic. We spent the afternoon sailing into the heart of the 2000 islands that populate the bay. We ate a delicious lunch served in traditional communal bowls and then disembarked for a couple hours of kayaking.(see picture) We kayaked through some caves and into a serene cove which is only accessible through caves. Our trip was organized by two guides one a westerner from London who had decided to spend a couple weeks working for this company and the other a Vietnamese man named Viet they were both in their early twenties. Megan and I were accompanied by 21 other backpackers from all over the globe we had Brits, Scots, Brazilians, Quebecois, Americans, and one guy from Mexico They were all ready for fun and really a great group of people to spend a couple of days with. During our time in the cove some one managed to capsize there kayak which wouldn't be a problem for a standard sea kayak but these were actually river kayaks and therefore didn't float. It took 20 minutes and some delicate footwork and razor sharp rock but it was eventually drained and back afloat. Although the delay put us behind schedule and late for the rendezvous with the Jolly Roger we did get to catch a glimpse of a monkey which happened to swing down from the top of one the surrounding ridges to investigate the commotion below. Back aboard the boat we settled into our respective cabins to shower up for dinner and a spectacular sunset. After dinner we spent the evening taking part in various drinking games and other intelligent discourse. Eventually the night digressed to feats of bravery and we began leaping off the top of the boat into the dark waters below. The following day we fought through varying levels of hangover and trekked up a slippery slope to the top off a picturesque peak. Most of us didn't think that was good enough so we climbed up an ancient tower tower which stood atop the hill. It was very very rusted and had a nerve racking creak to it whenever the wind picked up.(also it was missing two steps on of which the top step was about 120ft above the jungle canopy.

We are now in Indonesia, Jakarta to be specific and are seriously contemplating a spur of the moment flight straight to Bali. It's not that we don't like the city, although the rats are brave enough to walk to streets in broad daylight, we just want to be in a fun beach town for the final full moon of our trip which happens to be tomorrow night.

We'll let you know if we make it by for now.

Source: Travelblog