One of the main reasons we landed in Cat Ba was that we wanted to see the famous and fabulous Ha Long Bay. The best way to do so would be by boat – obviously – and our Hotel manager in Cat Ba happened to have a 2 day 1 night Cruise tour on offer, which we booked right away for the next day.

Having spent the last two months or so in South East Asia we were extraordinarily cautious and asked a lot of questions, let the poor man show us pictures of the boat and write all the conditions down on paper, to make sure we didn’t end up sleeping on the floor or something like that (which actually happened in the end, but more to that later…). We ended up with a bullet proof contract, not even a team of VIP lawyers would be able to dismantle. 😉

The pictures we were presented, showed a really nice two mast junk boat with cabins and all which one would need for a night out. The tour fee included the boat tour, excursions to 4 different places, canoeing, all meals on board and the cabins for the night.

The next day we were warned that we would start off with a different boat, because the “picture boat” was being repaired, but – no worries – we would change to the other boat before sunset. We were driven to the Port by the brother of the hotel manager, and as we stepped in the “other” boat we sensed, we were going to spend both days on that small tour boat. Our feelings were strengthened when the boat crew packed cushions blankets and small matrasses onto the boat… We still hoped it would be “just in case”….

Our boat crew were two young very friendly men about our age which didn’t speak a single word of English, or any other language which would let us communicate with them more than yes/no/thank you/water/toilet/beer…. but hey, who needs more than that 😉

As soon as we made ourself comfortable on the chairs on the upper deck, we were served a tablet of cold drinks and the boat left the fisher’s port slowly but steadily – we then found out that was our cruise AND top speed all along the journey…. If we had fallen in the water we probably would have managed to swim back to the moving boat without it having to stop…

The boat was safely steered between high green cliffs, blue waters, and incredibly, sunshine. The sun, that had hidden for the last month, showed up unexpectedly and accompanied us for almost the whole day, despite the weather forecast were indicating gray, then gray, and if we are lucky, maybe, at least dry.

A couple of hours later the boat set anchor in a quiet little bay, as our hosts indicated towards the canoe (or kayak). Ok, so we are probably supposed to take a tour in the two seater kayak? We try to ask for directions, or at least a general direction towards which we should go, and the gestures of the “vice captain” seem to indicate <<all around>>. We managed somehow to agree at least on the time, so probably we are supposed to take a tour for one hour around the bay. Well, ok, let’s go. we are not going to find out more anyways, and they will surely not leave without us, since we are their only two customers.

The scenery around what we found out to be the “bat cave” (one of the excursions mentioned in our “contract”) was unique. Quiet, beautiful, and alive. We saw monkeys, different sorts of bird, fishes, jellyfish, spiders, insects, you name it… The only thing to worry about would be to remember the way back in a maze like set of bays, cliffs, and tunnels. AND, coordinating our paddle strokes to avoid contact with the rocks. But everything went smoothly and we even managed to take some pictures on the way.

Back on the boat we find out our hosts were not just sleeping while we were out, well one of them was, but the other one prepared a rich and plentiful lunch Vietnamese style, with everything one could desire. All cooked and seasoned to perfection and all prepared freshly on the boat from fresh ingredients! We had fish, seafood, different kind of vegetables, rice of course, tofu… Delicious – and a lot! We were pleasantly surprised, and a bit afraid that we were already served all four meals in one go.

No time to digest, and and off we go to a different area. Same procedure here – boat stops, we wonder, crew points towards the water, we jump in the water and this time swim to a nearby nice little beach. Swimming and relaxing, then swimming back to the boat. Meanwhile the “captain” grabbed the canoe and snorkeling equipment and went “fishing”. We don’t know what he brought back as we didn’t see it, but we believe either they or we ate it a couple of minutes later when dinner was served. Again a menu which left nothing to be desired. More than just good, and more than just enough!! Impressive! Even more impressive was that there weren’t any leftovers.

Dinner is over, we go back to the upper deck to find our “beds” ready. Aha! We knew it! ****** No point in discussing with the crew as they were just hired to take us along, they did really their best to make us feel comfortable, and they wouldn’t understand a word anyways. It turns out it was not that bad after all. Yes we slept in the open air, on the floor with just a little mattress, but it didn’t rain – luckily for all the involved people (including the “contract” signer) – and we spent an evening and a night out below the stars in a beautiful  landscape. The sunset and sunrise from there were just unique! And since we kind of expected it, it was somehow ok. It was not ok though to be woken up by a loud alarm sound coming from the captain’s bridge. It’s not funny to hear such an alarm when sleeping in ones bed, but when on the water on an old boat and without knowing what’s going on it’s not the sweetest of the wakeups 🙂

The second day was more or less the same as the first. Canoeing to unknown places and swimming at secluded beaches. Very beautiful and relaxing.

We were dropped off at the port we had left the day before, but not before being presented a bill for the drinks (the “thought so offered drinks” from the first day, and all drinks including plain water we had with the meals….). Motorcycle Taxis were organized at the port to bring us back to the hotel. Only a 5 minute ride, just enough time to enter in “bad mood” ready to fight the hotel owner by the power of our contract. We actually weren’t really disappointed, no, we were actually really happy, it had been a wonderful two day cruise – just not what we had paid for. We put on angry faces and walked decisely towards the reception  like angry cowboys ready for the duel. The hotel owner’s smile quickly disappeared as he tried to find excuses. The boat apparently couldn’t be fixed in time, and…. “NOT our problem”, and well, the drinks, ehm….
Our “duel” ended in the refund of the drinks and the free night at the hotel for the next night. “You’re lucky it didn’t rain” we threw at him as we turned around, saddled up our horses and rode away in the dusty desert….