Mist Part I

tp. Hạ Long, Vietnam

After a last minute free upgrade to come aboard the ‘Dragon Legend’ luxury boat to Bai Tu Long And Halong Bay, we meet the Dragon Legend himself, well, a 70 year old American man. This man was an inspiration to us, a man who has travelled with his much loved wife. An enthusiastic gentleman who got stuck in a kayak, but embraced the experience when others wouldn’t dare, a man who said to us quite loudly in a cave “so you guys gonna make love here all day”, a kid you not, this man was a legend, partly because his real name was Jason. Aboard our boat, we experienced the slowest French invasion of all time, 10 minutes after everyone else, the French couple aboard decided to join us on a mini trip; and it’s ironic 70 years ago Vietnam couldn’t get rid of them. We also got the meet ‘The Peter Pan’, well a waiter with the humour to actually engrave his name badge and our main tour guide who if you shut your eyes, could well be genuinely a character from a South Park episode. We were unfortunate to experience the fog and mist that surrounded the bay, for the whole 24 hours at sea, but it doesn’t hide the sheer beauty and unique nature of this place. Once you battle through the cold feeling and get close to the formations, it something quite special. On our return back to the bay we had the chance to visit a cave once occupied by locals and now a haven for the visiting tourist. On our visit we managed to discover that caves now have extension sockets and an outside toilet that is known as ‘The Happy House’.