Vietnam - Halong Bay, Day 2

I wake up early this morning to check whether there may be a chance of sunrise, but no,  it’s foggy, so we might as well sleep some more!

Breakfast is at 8:15am – we start with a bowl of Pho and then have the usual fried egg on toast – it’s our first Pho for breakfast, and actually, I think I could probably have this every day! Mike is definitely enjoying a few extra slices of jam on toast though J

At about 9:30am, we anchor up by one of the seven a floating villages in Halong Bay. It has a population of 160, so is relatively small, and has existed since Halong Bay was designated a World Heritage site in 1994. The government then took on a greater role in controlling fishing practices and pollution which meant that the fisherman who used to live on their boats, were now grouped into floating villages.

We are picked up by a flotilla of small rowing boats manned by the village girls – it’s nice and peaceful rowing to the village. We are greeted in the communal house with a cup of tea, then visit the chief’s house and the school. Teachers stay in the villages all week, then return home for the week-end. The fishermen here catch fish and keep them in the hull of the boat which is pierced with holes and therefore designed to store fish live. They also do some fish farming, where they catch smaller fish, grouper, snapper, sea bass, and farm them in pools by their homes.  Traders then usually come by to buy the catch to sell in Halong City.

We have another 10 course lunch followed by a wonderful nap, then venture out to a small beach for a wander in the late afternoon.

Tonight we are having dinner in a cave. At 7pm we jump on the small boat to be ferried to the beach we were at earlier, and climb up some illuminated steps to a wonderful illuminated cave with little tea lights leading all the way to a wonderfully dressed dining table.  All the prawns, chicken, squid, fish have been barbecued tonight and is quite delicious. The presentation is also wonderful as each dish is accompanied by a vegetable sculpture: an eagle, a hill tribe house and finally a beautiful junk.  Classical music plays in the background until the end of the meal when the crew sings us a song, and Tony, our guide, strums a few more tunes on his guitar. What a gorgeous evening!

Before bidding goodnight to our fellow passengers, we have a little coffee with Kahlua back on the boat – the coffee has been consistently good so we ask to see the packaging, and discover that it’s the infamous weasel poo coffee! Apparently its wonderful rich, soft flavor comes from the fact that the digestion process produces a coffee with much less bitterness...