After we left Hue, we left the center of the country for the north. Landing in Hanoi, we entered the city with the mindset of using the capital as the jumping platform to the natural riches of the region. Perhaps the most famous of these is Ha Long bay, an UNESCO world heritage site, was recommended as a must-see to us by practically everyone who had gone to Vietnam.
Given that we would probably never live it down if we didn't go, we arranged a trip to head out to visit the bay along with a nearby island with equally impressive landscapes and a hot spot for domestic Vietnamese tourism. However, we learned more about how Vietnam's tourism industry works than about a geographic wonder during our four-day excursion.
There are many different ways to go see Ha Long Bay. They vary from one day excursions to multiple day cruises. Within these options you can select your level of comfort ranging from a budget trip with a group of 50 tourists to a super deluxe cruise with a little of people as you'd like. We had heard from friends that it was probably worth spending a bit of money to have a more comfortable trip.
We wound up booking a trip via our hotel in Hanoi on a mid-range package. For around 140 USD a person, we would be on a boat with maximum 16 passengers that promised high comfort, expertly guided tours and activities and some of the best food Vietnamese cuisine served with as many (non-alcoholic) drinks we wanted. We would spend the first night on the boat, parked where most ships don't go and then the second night, we would be in a 'luxury' hotel in Cat Ba, arriving there after slowly transferring throughout the day by visiting different islands along the way. We would be picked up at the hotel at 8:30 in the morning sharp and then dropped off there after our trip. Sounds pretty sweet, right? Well, not quite.
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| Looking out over Ha Long bay |
On the morning of departure, Nathalie and I had given ourselves an hour buffer to have breakfast and finish the final packing (i.e. loading the small backpacks with the laptop/tablet and the toiletry bags). Come 7:50, the bus (which turns out to be a very cramped mini-van), comes to get us. That's great; we haven't even received our food yet. We tell the hotel manager that we need at least 10 minutes to finish off our packing. She apologizes and gets her kitchen to warp up our lunch to go. The staff from the transfer company offered to go into our room to help us (no thanks!) and in the rush to get out, I wound up leaving half of the laptop charger in the room.
Once we finally got out to the front door, we were told that the police asked the bus to leave and we were stuck waiting for nearly 20 minutes while they circled around. I loathe hurry up and wait but probably not as much as I loathe missing breakfast. The day wasn't off to a great start. Anyway,s the bus finally rolled back around and we got on and apologized to the passengers saying that the bus was 40 minutes early.
The ones who understood us seemed to be sympathetic and we wound up rolling around Hanoi for the better part of an hour while the bus picked up the remaining passengers. Oddly enough, we did more than one double-back meaning that we were turning around in unnecessary circles. After picking up the last passenger, we made our way out of town for a very cramped three hour bus ride, with a 30-minute stop at a souvenir stand rest stop to stretch.
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| The dock near the caves |
When we made it to the dock, we were split into different groups. We found this odd because everyone we talked to on the bus had all booked the same package (albeit at different prices). We loaded up into a small motorboat and transferred off to the main vessel. The ship itself seemed very comfortable, with nicely furnished cabins, a large dining area and a sundeck spanning almost the entire length of the boat. After check-in, the boat headed out towards Ha Long bay and were served lunch.
The meal wasn't anything spectacular, even if it was a three course affair. We started with a pumpkin soup, then moved to spring rolls, with some chicken following afterwards. It wasn't bad, but wasn't exquisite.
After lunch, the guide vaguely briefed us with our first activity; exploring a cave on an island. After another 30 minutes of sailing (?), we dropped anchor (heh heh) in the harbor and loaded up into the small boat that had been in tow with us. By this point, we had entered into the heart of Ha Long bay and were met with the renowned mountain peaks shooting out of the pearl-green sea. We set out to enter into the cave via an easy stair climb where our guide started to point out different features in the cavern. After navigating the sea of people, we had hit a look out point where we could look down into the bay. Given that it was overcrowded, we quickly snapped a few pictures and made it down to the boat.
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| Kayaking in Ha Long bay |
We loaded up and were told that we had five minutes to get ready for the next activity, which would be sea kayaking. Sounds good, except the guide kept insisting that we wear a life jacket (the water in the bay was extraordinarily calm) and that if we wanted to pass through a channel cut under a mountain, we'd have to pay extra. We were then told we had 40 minutes to explore and were loaded up into uncomfortable old kayaks. We set out towards a small island and took a few pictures before turning back fearing that we were on a Vietnamese 40-minutes, meaning that it was more like 25. Indeed, we were one of the last groups back and the guide seemed very pressed to get us back on the ship.
Back on board the main vessel, we were told that the next stop was an island with what was billed as an incredible beach with a small, scalable summit where we could watch the sunset. Nathalie and I opted out of visiting the beach (it was crowded and a bit littered) and instead summited the peak to check out the views. It didn't disappoint. The view was spectacular and we were treated with an impeccable panoramic of the bay, complete with setting sun.
We decided we'd stay up there until dusk (as we were told we could watch the sunset). After an hour, we heard the guide calling my name. Curious as the sun was still high in the sky, told us we had to hurry up as we had to go back to the boat. He seemed a bit annoyed or at least his body language said so as he was trying to corral us if we're children. When we got down to the beach, we found out that we were the last group to leave the island and were ferried back to the ship.
Back on board, we were given a glass of wine and a chance to relax on the sundeck. Not to be outdone with the surprises, the guide told us to hurry up (“excuse me please, five minutes!” was apparently his battle cry) as we had the next activity: a cooking class. Nathalie and I found it odd as we were sitting on this gorgeous bay with a setting sun against one of the planet's most incredible natural wonders and instead of being given the opportunity to relax and enjoy it, they were once again trying to whisk us away.
I'd be lying if I said this didn't start to irk me, and the more I felt like I was being treated like a child, the more I wanted to rebel against it. Nathalie and I, not having more than five minutes for ourselves since we started that morning went down to our cabin for ten minutes to chill out for a bit. The cooking class itself was a large misnomer. As it turned out, the only thing we were 'cooking' were fresh spring rolls, and we had more or less been given a tray full of ingredients and told to go at it. I wasn't expecting a cooking class, nor was really excited by the prospect of it, but the pitch itself definitely oversold it.
After spring rolls, we were given another five minutes to get ready for dinner. This was more or less a repeat of lunch; with soup, a different starter, a main course and fruit. At one point, we received a point of fries and we weren't exactly sure where they fit into the grand scheme of dinner, but as they were deep frying everything, it somehow worked out.
We were invited to attend karaoke on the main deck after dinner was served. Most of the guests opted out and instead retired to their rooms for the evening at the late late time of 8:30. Nathalie and I haven't reached the point in our marriage where we're going to bed before 9:00 (yet), so we decided to watch the show. The ones participating really got into it, and it was admittedly fun to watch. We got to talking to the few guests who stayed up and had some enjoyable conversations. At 10:30, our time focused guide politely kicked us out and told us to go to bed. We were told that breakfast was served at 7:30 the next morning and were wished a pleasant night.
Around 30 minutes later, after reading a little bit, I went up to the sundeck to try to get a glimpse of the stars. Unfortunately, the captain decided that we were spending the night in a boat parking lot and what little opportunity we had to see the night sky was ruined by the running lights of the 30+ boats parked next to us. Nathalie told me the following morning that the guide asked her what I was doing up on the sundeck at night. I didn't really appreciate that they were closely watching me like that, especially as I had paid good money to be on board and I should have the ability to move around at my choosing.
Disappointed, I went to bed, looking forward to a calm night's sleep. I wasn't very successful in that regard. At exactly 05:40 the next morning, the captain turned the boat's main engine on. I was rudely awoken by the thunderous hum of a giant diesel motor. Unable to fall back asleep, I laid in my bed with my eyes closed trying to at least rest until breakfast.
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| Rural Cat Ba island |
At 7:20, our guide rang the doorbell to our cabin and told us that breakfast was almost over. Interesting, we were told the night before that breakfast was served at 07:30. Indeed, our “Vietnamese time” theory seemed to hold weight. We quickly dressed and made our way up to the dinning room. The breakfast was nothing more than pastries, bananas and coffee; not exactly what we were expecting for 140 USD per person. Barely having time to finish my coffee, our guide told us that we had five minutes to pack our cabin and checkout as we were supposed to transfer to another boat after the last activity. Great; not only had we been lied to about breakfast but were then asked to quickly pack up and go. The guide changed his mind and said we could check out after the last activity. Thanks dude!
The final event with this ship was a visit to a floating pearl farm. After making a quick ride in the ferry, we got a half-assed tour of the facility. In short, we were shown how they crack open oysters to see if they have pearls. The lucky ones who do are given a growth product to allow the pearls to reach a larger size before being harvested. The unlucky ones were simply smashed with a hammer and dumped into the sea. Wonderful. The trip ended with a visit through the on board jewelry store.
We transferred back to our ship where we were again given another “excuse me please, five minutes” to check out of our room. Once we had finished, we were once again put in hurry up and wait mode as we had to wait for another boat to meet us so we could make our way to Cat Ba as our ship was going to return to port with those who only signed up the one day outing and those coming from Cat Ba heading back home.
Our new vessel was slightly different than the first one. It was a day boat without the luxuries of the larger ship. Once we loaded up, we picked up a few more people along the way and headed out towards Cat Ba island. We spent most of the hour-long ride on the sundeck (this time, we only had mats to sit on instead of sun chairs). We were introduced to a new guide who told us that we had another hour-long ride over to Cat Ba island where we would be able to go on a bike ride to a small village.
Once we got to the small port, we disembarked and headed towards the end of the pier. Before we started the trip, we were told that we'd have the ability to rent bikes for five dollars and explore the backside of Cat Ba. The guide told us that we would be able to use the bikes for free, and after getting to the stand, we soon found out why.
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| The islets surrounding Cat Ba island |
As it turns out, there are multiple tour operators offering the same sort of deal and they all use this dock as a bike depositary. Our company seemed to have skimped out on the maintenance costs and our bikes appeared to be some of the poorest maintained ones on the dock. One person in the group had the back wheel guard fall off mid-ride and on my bike, the handle bars weren't aligned with the wheels, making steering a bit challenging. Unfortunately, most bikes were in this situation and as I had working brakes, I stuck with it and plowed ahead.
The landscape we cycled through was thoroughly breathtaking. After leaving the coast, we entered into mountainous and remote jungle. Once we cleared a small pass, we entered into a village lodged in the valley of two mountain ranges. The town seemed peaceful, albeit a bit of a tourist trap and the guide took us to what was probably his cousin's place where we had the possibility to buy overpriced drinks and ice cream.
During our rest stop, the guide explained that the town relies almost entirely on tourism for growth revenue (they were subsistence farmers otherwise) and that the townspeople were "happy and cared about everyone." Fair enough. He also mentioned that there was a great respect for pets and that the people of the village all pitched in to feed the cats and dogs. In great homage to irony, we were treated to the sight of villagers slaughtering a dog on our way out of town. We're not sure if it's religious-based or was done in order to have fresh dog meat, but it certainly contradicted the previous testimony of our guide.
We returned to the pier with our bikes intact, having avoided any injury and loaded back onto the boat. From here, we would have lunch while transiting to 'monkey island' for some beach time and trekking.
As some of you might know, Nathalie is allergic to seafood. Out of respect to her allergy, I don't eat seafood either. We had communicated our dietary requests to the staff and were seated at a separate table along with the other vegetarians/non-seafood eaters. This was probably the poorest attempt to satisfy non-sea food/meat eaters I've ever encountered. Served first were spring rolls that we were told were vegetarian or at least didn't contain fish. Upon the first taste, our mouths were overwhelmed with the taste of shrimp. We looked inside and there was a dark pinkish meat. The guide kept saying that it was pork. That was not pork. We were then given a plate of stir-fried chicken to split between six people along with a bowl a rice, some stir-fried cabbage and a big plate of Spanish peanuts.
The poor vegetarians at our table were stuck eating peanuts, rice and cabbage. Meanwhile, the fish tables were given piles of fried fish and seafood, leaving us with the leftover side dishes. Our guide was offended when we didn't eat the spring rolls and wouldn't believe us when we said that it was fish. After a disappointing meal, we arrived at monkey island.
We loaded up into a small fishing boat for the ferry ride up to shore. The beach and island itself were beautiful. We were the only group of people on the island save for the few locals working at a cafe next to the beach. We were given 25 minutes to 'relax' in the water before we were supposed to begin the trek. As it turned out, we wound up near the cafe where our guide was drinking beer and chatting with the waiter. We wound up hanging around the cafe, watching the monkeys for another 25 minutes or so before we were told that we had to load back up onto the boat. So much for trekking.
From there, our visits were finished and started heading to port to transfer to our hotel. By this point, we were tired, hungry and ready to just get to the room and relax. We made it to our hotel around an hour later.
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| View from the hotel on Cat Ba island |
Our accommodation was the supposedly luxurious 'Sea Pearl Hotel.' A relative sky scrapper on the island with 12 floors, we had the distinct impression that there were maybe five guests in the entire building. We made our way to our room on the ninth floor and took a good three hours to enjoy the shower, the bed and the TV. The room itself wasn't particularly fabulous. Indeed, the bathroom came with a shower curtain rack but was devoid of an actual curtain. This lead to the floor being constantly wet leaving the room unnecessarily humid. From our end, we didn't bother changing as we were too exhausted to move.
That evening, we were supposed to have dinner in the hotel as it was included in our package. However, we had lost the trust of the travel agency and instead opted to go and grab a cheeseburger somewhere. Right across the street from the hotel was a western bar and restaurant. We settled in for dinner, a couple of beers and a quiet night. After an adequate meal, we were looking forward to getting back to the room and passing out. Weirdly enough, this wouldn't be the case.
As we were walking out of the restaurant, we ran into some familiar faces dining on the terrace. Our friends from Da Lat, Louis and Eleanor, were sitting down having a dinner themselves. After a quick double-take to make sure it was them, we happily said hello and sat down to catch up. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and recounting both our trips since we had last left each other in Da Lat and agreed to meet up the next day and go from there.
We slept up until 15 minutes before breakfast finished and hurriedly jumped out of bed to get to the empty hotel restaurant in time for last call at the omelet station. We met our friends down at the same cafe and after explaining that Nathalie and I were going to chill for the day (we were still wrecked from our trip), we agreed to meet up for dinner that evening.
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| Trekking through the national park on Cat Ba island |
The rest of the day was largely uneventful other than us deciding to take it easy and figure out our next moves. That evening, we headed out for dinner and spent the night enjoying the company of new friends. We decided that the next day Nathalie and I would rent a scooter and that the four of us would go visit a national park and trek through one of the trails.
The next morning after renting a bike, we set out to cross the island to the park entrance. We were again treated to the natural beauty of the country side and after an easy 30-minute drive, we arrived at the national park.
Our planned trek was supposed to be one big loop through a trail that would bring us to the village we had visited a few days prior, up a mountain summit and then back to the park entrance.
The trail itself was through largely unspoiled jungle. Under the canopy, we were treated to the delights of the terrain, the flora and fauna, and the incredible humidity. The trail we were on was lightly covered and left almost untouched save for signs each kilometer. We passed through shoulder-high bush and scaled jagged rocks. It took us nearly 4-hours to cover the 10Km trail, but it was completely worth the gorgeous views and unparalleled way to see the island.
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| Rural Cat Ba island |
We stopped at a cafe at the half-way point for some much needed water. We wanted to check with the staff to see how we could get on the back loop to return to the park entrance as the signs towards the end of the trail were missing and we didn't want to wind up stuck in the jungle. We were told by the staff that the only way back was the way we came and that given it was already 2:30 in the afternoon, we would risk getting stranded in the dark if we doubled-back. However, the 'good people' from the travel agency we used earlier in the week could get us a boat back to the port from the mainland for the 'low price' of five dollars a person. Taking great advantage of the fact we were stuck, we took them up on the offer.
After a nearly two-hour commute back, we made it back to our hotel. However, there was one small problem; the bikes were back at the park. I wound up riding with Louis on the second bike they left near their hotel and returned back to the hotel an hour later feeling completely drained and ready for a shower.
Nathalie and I decided that we would return the next day, not with the travel agency but via a normal ferry/bus transfer. The stay in Cat Ba was relaxing and worth it for the views, but in all honesty, we were left with a sour taste in our mouth and we spent the next few hours trying to figure out why. Here's what we came up with:
The package that our hotel in Hanoi sold us was directly out of a brochure from the tour operator themselves. APT Travel promised an excellent-value for money luxury trip into one of the world's most beautiful bays.
The problem is that whatever we were sold wasn't delivered by the company. We were given a bill for the soft drinks, water and wine we had on board during the first night on the luxury boat, contrary to what we had bought. In the case of the wine we had at dinner, the crew had left three bottles of wine on the table without any indication that the wine was extra. The crew gladly served as if it was included. Sadly, that wasn't the case, as we only found out the next day.
The standard of the activities were below what was mentioned in the brochure and we were constantly being watched. The guides shepherded us around like children and would talk down to us should they for some reason think we were stepping out of line.
The gear that we were given for the expeditions was old and only well enough maintained to be marginally safe. The second guide seemed more interested in chilling out than actually working and this half-assed approach really decreased the value of what we thought we were getting.
On that, once we transferred to the second boat, the quality of the product we were offered went down significantly. Gone were the comforts of the first boat and we had the distinct feeling that we had been downgraded. We got to talking to some of the passengers on the second boat and we had discovered that they had paid half of what we had for the trip. Their first boat wasn't as comfortable as the one we had been on but they had different deals.
One group had received free beer from 8:00-11:00 in the evening. At 11:00 sharp, the bartender took the remainder of the pitcher and dumped it overboard. He told the passengers that if they wanted to keep drinking, then they would have to buy something. If they didn't want to buy anything, then they had to leave the dining area. When the group refused, the staff turned off the lights and kicked them out.
The hotel we were at wasn't a three-star, at least according to our standards, and we wound up stuck with it for three days as we had booked it without cancellation (our fault). Indeed, the longer we stayed, the more we regretted our decision. Many of you probably would've complained about it. We were completely ready to do so, except for one major issue: there was nothing in writing.
When we booked our trip, we put our trust in the hotel that what they were selling would be honored. We were never given a contract detailing the services we had paid for. This gave APT Travel carte blanche to run the show at their choosing with no practical recourse for us to do anything about it. In short, Nathalie and I felt scammed.
And herein lies a major obstacle for the development and growth of the Vietnamese tourism industry. Westerners want to come and visit. They want to see the natural wonders that Vietnam has to offer. They want to experience the positive parts of the culture and leave with a positive impression of the country. Amateur pseudo-scamming leaves visitors frustrated and disappointed. In the end, this ill reputation will only trickle back to the places where tourists come from. The world is a competitive place and Vietnam is in a fight against its neighbors for the tourism dollar. If this continues, eventually people will choose to spend their money elsewhere despite the unique landscape Vietnam has to offer.
The easiest solution would be to provide all passengers with contracts detailing what they bought and what they can be expected. The huge problem with this, at least from APT's perspective, is that it will force them to deliver on their promises. This probably means cleaning up the operation and investing in proper training for their staff. However, I find it hard to believe that their bottom line is as solid as it could be as it is. It would be well worth their investment to clean up and solidify their operations. This is especially true if they'd like to attract international investors in the future who will no doubt scrutinize their entire operations before making an investment.
Additionally, contracts need to be properly fulfilled. When we rented our scooter, the woman at the shop didn't bother to fill in most details on the bike. Rental time and duration weren't filled in by default, and instead she left those fields blank. Working under the assumption that the rental was for 24 hours (like everywhere else we've been in southeast Asia), I returned the bike the morning after we had rented it.
The woman was livid saying we were supposed to return it the night before and wanted to charge me for an extra 24 hours. I told her that the rental period was never conveyed to me and I wouldn't pay. She didn't bother to even keep the contract (I had it in the hotel room) and in the end, I just walked off instead of being ripped off.
If she had bothered to do her job and communicate the terms of rental, then I would've respected it. After all, nobody wants problems and the clearer the communication the less likely they'll occur.
In the end, we felt that the scenery and the island were marginally worth the price we paid. However, if we were doing it again, we would've done it completely differently and gone directly to Cat Ba, taken a cheaper hotel and bought day trips from the various local agencies. That being said, the lessons were worth the experience, and it's our intention to learn from them. Here's to hoping this remains the case for the rest of our travels.
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