World Heritage Kayaking

 Tuesday November 7th

Free advice. Either do not look in the toilet bowl and if you do, do not Google what you saw. Pancreatic cancer. Peptic ulcer. A different sort of cancer. I should have stayed away from Google and just accepted it was left over from yesterday’s adventure. As the adage goes, “When you hear hoof beats, think of horses and not zebras”. If it persists I’ll look into zebras tomorrow.

The cruise ship had arranged to pick me up at 8:30 and were right on time. A very plush 5 person limo van for a 2 hour ride to Ha Long Bay. The driver made one stop to pick up a couple at another hotel. A nice young couple from San Diego. She a pediatric nurse and he does something, but I wasn’t clear on exactly what it was.It involved a lot of international traveling and so he probably works for the C.I.A. We had a nice chat most of the trip, I liked them quite a bit.

The van dropped us at he correct dock and names taken, credit card scanned and lanyard issued identifying which of the 400 vessels on the bay were yours. It was a zoo, an organized zoo, but my brain went into overload. I only had to endure this craziness for about 30 minutes before we, the red tag adorned were ushered onto the tender to be whisked to our boat 35 minutes away.

Then entire crew was on the fantail to welcome us aboard and we were whisked up to the third floor for a multi course lunch. I mean a sit down appetizer to soup to main and desert all with a presentation that makes most high end restaurants look like McDonald’s. After lunch we were escorted to our rooms, with just enough time to wash up and sigh before it was time to go do the first activity. Back on the tender and off to the cave exploration. There were two options one in a bamboo scow rowed by a local man or a nice kayak through the same area. The local man did not row the kayak for you. I don’t think a single member of the passengers went for the bamboo boat, we all took the kayak choice.

The kayak was missing a rudder so a little more work than I was used to, and besides there were hazards. Other kayaks and bamboo boats, all vying for the same small cove. We all paddled toward a dark spot which was booked as a cave. One of the other kayakers said it was more a tunnel than a cave. The ceiling was so low that if you weren’t paying attention you could get a face full of stalactite or a mild concussion. It was about 100 feet long and then into another protected cove. We all paddled around a little and then headed back through the same cave as before and it had lost it’s mystique by then.

Back to the dock and the tender and the ship where it was hurry up to catch the sun lower behind the islands. As we all sipped on a cocktail or two or three.

By now the tribes had been sorted and the new conversations were repeated exactly word for word as had been recited to a previous group. Each member of the group, intently listening to the other group,but not hearing a syllable because they needed to tell their own more interesting or important life’s history.

Dinner disappointed me. I was hoping for fine dining like lunch instead it was an outdoor BBQ buffet. If I had wanted to stand in line to get my supper I would have stayed at the hotel and waited for breakfast. It was a nice buffet, but it still reminded me of any number of mess halls I’ve experienced.

Dinner is done and so am I.