Hurry hurry

The next day was the start of our three day Halong Bay excursion. Halong Bay is a UNESCO world heritage site, and one of the most visited natural wonders in Southeast Asia. We boarded a junk boat aka pirate ship from Halong City,  were introduced to our crew and oriented to our cabins. There were three levels on the boat - the first had sleeping cabins, the second had the dining area, and the third was the sun deck. Our meals were all in the dining area, and consisted of mostly seafood - different types of fish, shrimp, squid, and mussels.  Our first stop on the boat was the Sung Sot caves. These were where Vietnamese soldiers would obtain shelters from the bombs dropped on Halong Bay. Many of them had inscribed their names on the rocks. It was very neat to see. We then went kayaking around the islands, followed by climbing up 416 steps for a beautiful view of Halong  Bay. At the top, we saw a Chinese man and woman racing to the top while being filmed on camera. They were dramatic and over the top, as they were making some Asian TV show. It was amusing to watch. We then had dinner on the boat, watching sunset on the top deck. We met a couple of Vietnamese and they taught us how to play Dala, the most common Vietnamese card game. It's a mix between mah Jong and rummy. We ended the night attempting to fish for squid. The only thing we caught was a sandal. The next day we were at Cat Ba, the largest island in Halong Bay. We cycled through the countryside to a village, where we were supposed to hike to the hospital cave. But because it had just rained, we were advised to not go as this is when the snakes and leeches come out in the jungle.  Our next destination was Monkey Beach, an isolated beach that we had to ourselves until another boat arrived. We swam in the ocean, which was so still we could float on our backs without having waves crashing into us. The water was sparkling under the sun, and the horizon was dotted with islands as far as we could see. It was definitely comparable to Maya Bay, if not nicer. The boat then took us to the main Cat Ba island, where many Vietnamese travel to for vacation. We watched sunset from a park bench along the harbour. After dinner, we searched the island night markets for our favorite dessert, mixed fruit with condensed and coconut milk. It was no where to be found, and instead, we were hustled by close to 20 Vietnamese women to eat at their respective food booths. So glad that never happens in Canada. There are only so many times you can say no before you stop acknowledging hustlers. The next day we travelled back to Hanoi. We revisited our favorite food stalls, then headed to the airport for Ho Chi Minh City. PS- oh yeah, we should explain our title. Our tour guide told us to hurry hurry for every activity, even if we ended up having to wait anyway. It got to the point where we placed bets on when the hurry hurry would come. EGF