Our Vietnamese Junk

Junk1: old iron, glass, paper, or other waste that may be used again in some form (www.merriam-webster.com)

Junk2: any of various ships of Chinese waters with bluff lines, a high poop and overhanging stem, little or no keel, high pole masts, and a deep rudder (www.merriam-webster.com)




Junk3: excess baggage in ass area (www.urbandictionary.com)

We just got back from a 3-day cruise on a junk (definition 2), which was anything but junk (definition 1), but certainly did add junk (definition 3) to my trunk.  We had a great time!

Ha Long Bay has been in Tom's dreams for about 8 years, and in mine every since he told me about it.  It did not disappoint!  Ha Long Bay is an emerald green bay with an estimated 2000 limestone islands poking out from the water.  There are so many of these islands that it often looks like layers of mountains in the distance.  It is a stunning area.


We arrived there after about a 3 hour ride through Vietnam's countryside of rice paddies and street vendors.  Our tour bus didn't stop in the long line of tour buses to take photos of people working the rice fields.  The Vietnamese people must think that it's really strange that big crowds of people would want to take pictures of them working in the field.  

We were immediately pleased with our junk, which we shared with 10 friendly tourists plus the crew.  Dragon's Pearl III was beautiful and clean, and our room was certainly the nicest we've stayed in since arriving in Southeast Asia.  Our ensuite bathroom small but very clean, and had a "rainforest" showerhead.  The bed was comfy, and the view from the two large windows was spectacular. 


The food on the junk was far better than we could have ever expected.  Each lunch and dinner (sorry, supper) had 8-10 delicious courses.  They catered to us "damn vegetarians" beautifully, and served lots of seafood to the others.  Each meal started with salad and ended with fresh fruit.  Tom and I have been trying to go back to eating normal portions.

Luckily we were able to get in at least a little bit of exercise.  We went kayaking twice: once exploring a lagoon, and the next time visiting a cave.  Although Tom and I are certainly more comfortable in our canoe than in a tandem kayak, it was fun to get out paddling.  

Another activity we did was a visit to a floating village.  Yes, you read right, the entire village is floating.  Some of the villagers took us there by paddle boat, to where we were greeted with tea, and taken to the school and to a house.  I was a little surprised that the house had a television.  We learned that the village has about 30 families to make about 150 people.  It was neat to watch the people get around from place to place, especially the three children going home from school on a styrofoam raft.  I don't think that their mode of transportation can be called a "school bus" in any context. 
 


The last night of the cruise was the most memorable for me.  We had supper inside a cave.  The cave was beautifully candlelit, set up like a luxury restaurant, and as always, the meal was fantastic.  It was really a dining experience like no other.  Even the couple from Paris said that atmosphere and food considered, it was the best meal they'd ever had.  

Next stop:  Cairo, Egypt.  Back to work.