Overnight, the rough seas continued. I'm not sure it is related but I woke at 0200 (feeling fully rested) and didn't really sleep again. As a result, I had started my day in earnest by 0430 and spent over an hour reading, catching up on puzzles and making blog entries. At 0600, I went up to the Sun Deck and got photos of our arrival in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Ancient legends claim that the nearly 2000 islands on the edge of the Gulf of Tonkin were deposited by a dragon. The many distinctive limestone cliffs stand out of the water like moss covered mushrooms - passing through them on Viking Venus this morning in the morning mist was quite surreal. It was still very windy but the seas were calmer. While trying to do some birding, I found out that the I Merlin App was only 24% accurate - oh well. At 0620, I got breakfast (eggs, bacon, baguettes, beans, fruit) at the World Cafe. The place was a madhouse and I'm really starting to miss Viking Polaris... With my meal completed, I did some more walking before returning to my room (0700). During my wanderings, it became clear that there aren't a lot of solo travelers. While I’ve only met a handful of the other 850ish passengers, almost all are older couples. With the time I still had before the excursions began, I reviewed more info about Ha Long Bay in my guide books. At one point, I noticed that my landing card had been delivered to my stateroom - we've been told we must carry it whenever we are off the ship. Before 0800, I did my best to pack for the day. Before the cruise began, I’d planned three excursions for this Port Call: paddling and two boat (“junk”) rides. Changes in the ship’s excursion schedule, however, forced me to make adjustments. Fortunately, I'd had some help (from Guest Services) to getting on a full day cruise among the pretty islands but the following day was up in the air. Viking Venus docked at Long Pier 0810 and, at 0830, I went down to Deck 1 to get some small change (for tips) from Guest Services. Fortunately, I also got water from the bartender at “The Living Room”. When the ship's crew gave the word, the passengers started disembarking to the waiting tour buses. By 0845, I was onboard a large motor coach. When we started moving, I thought we had a long way to go to reach the tour boats - however, we only traveled about 200 yards to where the Ha Long Bay cruise tours departed. I guess everyone needs to get paid... After a short walk along the pier, we boarded a Junk for our tour of the bay (0920) and met our local tour guides, “Angela” & “Ken” (they claimed their Vietnamese names were too hard for us). From them, we learned how to say hello (sounds like “Shin Tao”) and thank you (sounds like “Komun”). Meanwhile, we were pushed to buy lots of local goods from the crew on the boat - this was another racket that I guess will be commonplace for the entire cruise. One interesting part of the tour was that we could only drink canned water; the rules restricting plastic (of all kinds) were very strict in this UNESCO Heritage Area. For some reason ("the Captain is not on the ship" might have been part of it), we had a long delay in getting started and only departed from boat pier at 1000. During this time, I met Randy, the first solo traveler I’ve encountered on the cruise and learned that he'd been a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Once we departed land, we crossed Ha Long Bay in the direction of the island where Sung Sot (AKA Surprise) Cave was located. Sadly, we got no assistance from the guides on the names of the different islands that I'd read about in my books about Vietnam... I spent time walking on the upper deck of the junk - there were many, many tankers and fishing boats to see (and avoid). The weather was windy, overcast and comparatively cool (70s). After jockeying for position among many other, similar, boats, our junk pulled up to a long pier so we could disembark (1115). Entry into Sung Sot Cave required a huge climb (lots of stairs) and waiting in a long queue of people. Throughout the tour, it was hard to stay with guides - we tried very hard but the group kept getting spread out among the many other visitors. After our climb, we then had to descend into the cave on more steps. Inside, we were treated to a lot of cool formations (e.g., monkey, lion, turtle, phallus, etc.) made from the limestone falling from the roof of the cave. The huge rooms actually had a lot of natural lighting and this made it easy for us to walk (probably a mile) inside. We were informed that this cave was used by the NVA as a hiding place during the Vietnam War. For the first time, we got to hear how the locals felt about that conflict and their opinions were quite mixed and nuanced. To exit, we again had to walk up lots of steps and then down more steps to water level. Once I'd lost the rest of the group (many of whom were struggling to navigate the steps), I was one of the first to arrive at the pier. I was able to board the junk at 1215 but then had to wait for 20 minutes before the rest of the group were onboard. By then, I was quite hungry but discovered that no food (or even extra water) would be provided. For free, that is... Knowing we would miss lunch on the Viking Venus, I ordered fried noodles ($7 USD) & Halong Sapphire beer ($2 USD) from the “Lady of the Boat” (that's what they called her). After departing the island, we rode on the junk for 15 minutes to reach Titov or Titop Island. As before, there were lots of other boats waiting to land their passengers. Once we were on land, we were told we had about 30 minutes to explore the beach and, if we wanted, climb a tall hill on the island. Hoping to see the legendary view I'd read and heard about, I joined a few hardy souls from our tour group in climbing the 432 steps to the top of the island. Sadly, the hike had a queue. Once I reached the top, the views of the many surrounding islands were spectacular. I also enjoyed the breeze at the higher elevation. Unfortunately, I had to follow another huge line of people on the way down to the shoreline. Upon (finally) reaching the bottom, I walked on the beach - the place was very commercial (even bathrooms cost money). With the overcast and limited time, I didn’t end up going in the water (although I did touch it). Instead, I got back on the boat (1345) and we headed back towards the Port. I was very pleased to be able to get fully immersed in the natural “wonder of the world” today! During the ride back to Viking Venus, I spoke more with my "table mates": Randy and Ayal & Lemur (originally from Israel but now living in California). At around this time, I exchanged $1 for some Vietnam Dong. This must have inspired our hosts because then I got a request of the “Lady of the Ship” to exchange five $20 bills for one $100 bill - hope that doesn’t bite me later... We arrived at the pier by 1500 and I tipped our tour guides - we then had to do same drill (a 200 yard bus ride) to reach Viking Venus. After boarding the ship (1530), I visited Guest Services and signed up for my next day’s excursion. By then, almost everything was sold out but I was able to reserve a spot on the Yen Duc Fishing Village tour. Sadly, kayaking fell off the calendar for me but I'm OK with that. Back in my room, I relaxed for a while before heading to Teatime in the Wintergarden venue (1630). They offered me scones, hand sandwiches, mini desserts and some delicious peppermint herbal tea . During this relaxing interlude, I had time to consider what I wanted to do for the rest of the evening. I'd started to formulate a plan to the cable car (gondola) that crosses the head of the bay and and decided to take the complimentary shuttle into Ha Long. So, at 1700, I boarded one of the buses and rode it through busy, crowded and narrow streets. We soon crossed the giant bridge, which paralleled the path of the cable car, and I got clear views of Viking Venus and the massive Ferris Wheel on the highest point of land nearby. Overall this turned out to be a very interesting (and unexpected) route but, unfortunately, it dropped me off VERY far from the cable car entrance (1725). With the bus stop in Ha Long City Center (VinCom Plaza), I wasn't sure what to do next. I asked the on-site Viking Rep, a young man named Loc, for help and he first told me that I could not access the cable car from the east side of Ha Long Bay. When I explained that I was interested in views of the bay and, maybe, visiting a stunning Buddhist Temple complex that I'd seen on a high cliff above the city, Loc spoke to a cab driver about taking me to the top of the hill - he even set up a rate in US dollars ($10)! Armed with an assurance that my shuttle bus ride was not wasted, I was happy when the cabbie drove me to the top of the hill. At one point, he appeared to be trying to convince a security guard to let me inside - fortunately, he was successful, By the time we reached the summit, the sun had set. However, this made the temple, Chùa Bảo Hải Linh Thông, even more beautiful and interesting! In the dim light, I took many pictures. Nearby, the Ferris Wheel was brightly lit, the cable cars were colorful and the city skyline looked very cool. Viking Venus was also well lit at its berth in the harbor. Meanwhile, the cabbie was very patient and gave me all the time I needed for a wonderful experiene. Once we departed the temple, we drove back downhill, stopping in a few places so I could take more photos of Viking Venus. Back at VinCom Plaza (1815), I paid the cabbie double the agreed fare (he was VERY surprised) and then checked out the inside of the Mall. While getting ready to get back on the bus, I spent some time getting to know Loc a bit better. He told me that about 100 passengers had used bus to the VinCom Plaza Mall during the day. After thanking him (with a tip too), I got back on the Viking shuttle bus (1830) and headed back to the ship (following the reverse route of my outbound leg) to the Port. I was the only passenger... One big difference in this (20 minute) ride, though, was that the driver stopped to get some takeout from a lady on a scooter. Along the way, I saw several dogs wearing red jackets - not sure what that was about. After getting off the bus, I located Loc’s boss and told her about his superior service (she was very pleased). Once onboard the ship (1855), I remembered that the World Cafe was still open so I went to eat a light dinner (turkey, various green beans, white bean soup, pasta, chocolate fountain, beer). Finished with my meal (1920), I returned to my room and I completed an online excursion survey, did some blogging and updated my family on social media. There was even a bit of time for watching a movie before I felt tired enough (2145) to go to sleep. What a day full of spectacular views!
