The Halong Bay(下龙湾)

Three days after the incident of the disappearance of the MAS airliner MH370, our family made a long-anticipated trip to Hanoi travelling on the Malaysian Airline.

On board the aircraft I came across a caption of  an advertisement from the Malaysia Airlines  magazine, 'going places', that reads ‘On this journey of life, we’re all travellers looking forward to make that great trip with someone.’

Indeed, 'we are the travellers  to make that great trip to Hanoi' planned by my daughters, tailored specially for my wife's needs  as she has suffered for years from osteoporosis which makes her movements "very, very difficult and challenging".  

So, the itinerary of this trip would be basically "quite free and quite easy"; it would be quite relaxing as it would involve minimum walking on our part and we would try to spend more time 'on wheels' for moving about.

In Hanoi, we decided to book a spacious, luxurious cab so that my wife could sit comfortably with more room to stretch her legs.

As for lodging, we followed the recommendation of TripAdvisor to stay at Hanoi Guesthouse. Opposite this hotel and not far from it, there were quite a number of restaurants and eating stalls. Dining was not a problem at all.

In the evening on our arrival at Hanoi, my daughters suggested we should patronize Bobby Chinn's restaurant to taste some of his signature dishes which he, as a celebrity chef, had demonstrated in his programmes on the Travel and Living Channel (Channel 707) of the Astro cable television network. Initially I was not in favour of this proposition as it would be expensive to dine at this costly restaurant. My contention seemed to be more untenable than the argument of my other family members that "if we don't patronize it now, we may not have the chance to do so later!"

Like any democratic entity, I, as the minority, had to abide to the wishes of the majority.

Moreover, I had just come across a catchphrase on the menu while having lunch that very afternoon at the restaurant opposite our hotel which reads,

‘Life is a journey, eat well, and travel well ….

So, we decided to have our dinner at Bobby Chinn's restaurant to 'eat well', and, of course, not forgetting to 'pay well' as well. Luckily I wasn't the one to foot the bill!

On the following day, at noon, we embarked on the Dragon's Pearl Cruise for a 2D1N cruise excursion. This junk is equipped with 11 cabins with a maximum capacity of twenty travellers on board.

The Dragon's Pearl Cruise is the newest and the largest cruise of the Indochina Junk Company with three junks, each of which bears the identical name of the Dragon's Pearl Cruise.

On board the cruise, my wife and I were allotted to a cabin adjacent to the dining hall. This time around, all the cabins were fully occupied with a total of twenty travellers; most of them were from Europe and the States. We did not have any problems explaining to the other travellers where we came from as they were fully aware of and constantly updated by the CNN regarding the mystery flight of MH370 airliner.

After lunch, our cruise was anchored near the Titov Island. My daughters and I were among the enthusiastic tourists who were ferried on shore in a boat.  We climbed a flight of a hundred steps to enter and explore a huge limestone cave. This cave was once the home of a fisherman and his family before Halong Bay was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

From the cave we followed another trail leading to the beaches where we spent the remaining afternoon on activities like swimming in the bay and kayaking through a limestone cave. There was a group of youngsters playing beach football.

Next morning we were guided to a tour of a fishing village and the pearl cultivation farm at the Halong Bay.

We disembarked from the cruise after lunch was over.
The most significant feature of this cruise tour was the route navigated by the cruise which was to deviate from the mass tourist sites, to bring the travellers to the remotest parts of the bay where the travellers could enjoy a quiet and serene natural surrounding far away from the other passing vessels or fishing boats.

Some people might consider a cruise excursion of this sort expensive, but it is definitely worth the money spent if one were to choose a good shipping company which provides a superb itinerary coupled with good food, comfortable lodging and excellent service.  And the Indochina Junk Company is one such company you could rely on if you plan to visit the Halong Bay.