As I’ve said before Ha Long Bay is really beautiful. But it’s hard not to get scammed.

We really really wanted to go Hanoi > Ha Long Bay > Cat Ba Island > Haiphong, so we googled around and found the most highly recommended travel agency in Hanoi. Yes they were straight up and yes they gave us what we paid for, but of course no one is going to tell you the full story when they’re not going to make money from it. According to them there was absolutely no way we could go from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island in one day. No explanation offered, just that it couldn’t be done. So we booked their one day return trip tour from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay and got a few dollars knocked off because we wouldn’t be coming back to Hanoi.

The initial tour of Ha Long Bay went well, seafood lunch was provided, a cave was visited, limestone karsts in the shape of kissing chickens were seen. Back on the tourist wharf we spotted a travel agency and Darian, being team leader* at the time, went in to book a boat to Cat Ba Island the next day. We were promised many things, the most significant being that the boat would get us to the Cat Ba town side of the island and not the other side of the National Park from Cat Ba town end of Cat Ba Island.

You can guess where this is going.

Thankfully there were a number of other people on the boat from different tour companies that had been told they were going straight to Cat Ba town as well so they had a bus waiting for them. Then we realised why we were told at the start of the trip that the bus was NOT included in our tickets. (We had all heard this, we just dismissed it though because we weren’t planning on catching a bus anywhere.)

Fuck. That. Shit.

By the time we got off the boat I was so incensed and scared that we would have to spend the night outside in the cold that no one could have made me get off that bus.

The whole debacle ruined my memories of Ha Long Bay.

We only stayed one night on Cat Ba Island, but it was nice. We were mobbed on the street by people trying to get us to stay at their hotels so got a real cheap room and woke up to a bay full of little boats. Beautiful. I ate fresh crab from the shell for the first time, and we had a few drinks in a Kiwi bar.

While we waited for the boat to Haiphong the boys pulled out their guitars and played to a few people who joined us in the gazebo to listen.

*It was the team leaders responsibility to find transport to the city they were in charge of, accommodation, suggest some activities, and make decisions about where to eat when no one could decide. The role rotated to the next in line every time we moved cities. I highly recommend this approach, especially if you’re gone for a long time and moving often. It gives everyone a chance to relax sometimes and be a visitor rather than a tour leader.

Read Brendan’s opinion of our trip to Ha Long Bay.
See all of the Ha Long Bay photos on Flickr.

Baanrimtaling Guesthouse, Chiang Khong // Simple living on the river // Huge spider

From Chiang Mai we bused to Chiang Khong and boated to the Laos side of the river and the town of Huay Xai. Considering we were crossing into another country it was surprisingly easy. Wait in line on the Thai side for a passport stamp. Pay a small fee for the 5 minute boat trip across the river. Wait in line and pay for a visa and stamp on the Laos side. Done.

Snakes in alcohol // Sunset over the Mekong // Communist flag // Beer Lao

Huay Xai is a typical border town. Specialising in tourist fare: cushions for your boat trip, tickets for your boat trip, sandwiches for your boat trip. We could have tried to jump straight from Thailand onto the 2 day boat but we were in no rush. It gave us a chance to meet Mr Singkham the lively 71 year old French/Laos/English speaking proprietor of Aramid Guesthouse who had some pretty strong opinions of stupid French tourists and the Laos government. It was ok though as he seemed to like us.

After stories of horrible nine hour trips stuck on wooden seats next to the motor, we were well prepared for slow boating. Arriving very early, armed with cushions, we were pleasantly surprised by a near empty boat full of comfortable ex car seats. We chose 3 at the front of the boat (far away from the engine) and settled in for our long wait.
Our first experience of Laos time sees leaving time rolling around, with a full boat, waiting for another tour bus. There is no way they’ll fit with us so another, bigger, boat is drafted. Tour bus fills second boat and it leaves an hour after schedule. We finally leave 15 minutes later. First in first served does not apply.

Day 2 is supposed to leave dead on 9 (we’re early again to get good seats) so when they’ve only pulled up one boat, and there are still stupid fucking tourists coming down the hill at 9.10, I can’t quit believe the audacity of some people. Once again, showing up late gets you a less crowded boat that leaves first. Lame.

The two days are really nice though. The Mekong river is a lot rockier than I expected. Quite rugged and beautiful. There are so so many trees.

At the start of day two I saw my first elephant being ridden across the way!

There are plenty of fisherman and swimming children to observe. Houseboats and huts. A prison. A cave. A mudslide. And if a previously boat phobic person can praise it there is nothing to be afraid of.

Just promise me you won’t take the speed boat!

See all the Huay Xai – Luang Prabang photos on Flickr

Beautiful yes. But as with most beautiful things in Vietnam the experience is being ruined by scammy tour agencies selling you the world and delivery a piece of dirt. Our day trip to Ha Long Bay with The Sinh Tourist was excellent. Our day trip from Ha Long to Cat Ba, booked at the pier, was bullshit.

My advice is skip Ha Long City and go straight to Cat Ba Island via Haiphong boat. You get all the views and not so much of the rip off.

Or go to Ninh Binh where the jutting mountains are just as magical but set in river and rice paddy.

1. + 2. + 3. + 4.

• & – I really wish people would just write and. I think & is pretty as a symbol and I use it a lot when writing with a pen, but as a substitute for a typed word I hate it. My business is called Cupcakes and Mace, not Cupcakes & Mace! :] (it actually makes me shudder to see it written that way.)
• Boats – Nothing happened to make me so scared of them, but I am. I refuse to go on one, to the point that it excludes me from some family gatherings (well The Boy’s family gatherings, mine don’t seem to do boats as recreation).
• Doors being left ajar – I am mildly OCD when it comes to certain things, and doors are one of those things. Wardrobe doors must always be shut in the room that I’m sleeping in. My toilet door should always be closed. And the door to our second bedroom clicks into place when you’ve closed it properly, if it doesn’t click I send The Boy back to do it again. (who’d want to live with me?!)
• Pastel colours – Eurgh
• Doing the dishes – I would rather scrub the toilet than clean the dishes. I tend to work things into a frenzy in my mind and I’ve done that with dishes. At first I just didn’t like doing them because they’re a chore, then I preferred to dry rather than wash, then I started to get pissed off when I had to do the dishes, now I actually feel upset when the prospect of doing the dishes is upon me. It fills me with an unnatural dread, I hate staying at peoples houses because the house guest is expected to do the dishes out of politeness. I’m so relieved when people have dishwashers.
  Am I crazy?
• People calling me – I’m a writer, and I deal with people in other parts of the world most of my day, so I expect to communicate with written words – email, twitter, blog comments, facebook, chat, and texting, and not with a voice call. We actually get so few calls that when someone rings I get a bit freaked out and think someone has died.
• Playing hide and seek and tiggy – My biggest fear is being chased. Any time I  feel like someone could be following me I get freaked out. If someone is running after me I prefer to run into a corner and turn around to face them because having someone running after me freaks me the fuck out.

What makes you shudder unnecessarily?