Back From OZ

Well finally after about six weeks we have enough time to post another blog, life has been so hectic during and after returning to OZ that we haven’t had time to scratch. We are currently in Penang to pick-up new visas for Thailand and then returning to Langkawi tonight to make final preparations to head north again.

A trip back to Sydney is never complete without a day on this wonderful harbour

The trip back to OZ was eventful and thanks to Bernie for his hospitality and generosity in making the stay enjoyable and easy for us to get all the boat bits we needed. For those who don’t know Bernie, he’s the new guy in my sister Sue’s life and he wears himself out spoiling her rotten.

If you've heard how great a weekend at Bernie's is then try a month. Thanks Bernie

It was great to catch up with both families again and share some old and new experiences and it’s good to see that all the nieces and nephews are getting on with their individual lives and moving forward.

Our loan car thanks to Bernie

Unfortunately we didn’t have sufficient time to get to all parts of OZ that we are familiar with and catch up with friends but hopefully the blog will keep everyone informed and we are just an email away.

We keep being told that we are living the LUCKY LIFE, yeah sure Lucky Lucky oh so Lucky

Since returning to Langkawi we have dropped the boat back into the water after antifouling and have since finalised all the remedial works regards the fuel tanks and in addition carried out some improvements and repairs from our trip across from OZ last year and now can look forward to more exciting adventures ahead. From here on the blog should capture the ups and downs of our sailing life rather than the land travel and give an insight into why we do it and why others don’t.

Bye for now.

 Beers and Cheers with bubbles for a triple celebration, Jen's ?? birthday, 15 year anniversary owning Dreamweaver and splashing the day before at Rebak before a night at the Hard Dock Cafe.

J&J

Hard Yakka

2 months after returning from our inland jaunt we have finally put things straight with all the remedial work finalised and time again for some blogging. It has been a very frustrating and challenging period to do the extent of work that has been required to get things back in order. Far removed from the leisurely lifestyle which we have become accustomed to and thought would be the norm in lovely SE Asia it has been physically draining and hard for both of us to do the work. The conditions here are very different than back home even compared to Townsville the temp is 28-30 degrees 24/7 and humidity 90%, the AC has been a great help and the work would have been impossible without it.

Robbie the robot doing what he does best and making the most of available space

As you know we had to replace not 1 but 2 fuel tanks, the first of which was the subject of intense negotiations and haggling with the Chinese owner of the local fabrication company, well he was sacked after our first inspection of his work on the tank and another fabricator was engaged to build both tanks. Unfortunately this lost us nearly 2 weeks but Mr Chin was a much better man to deal with than Mr Lim and his pricing much more realistic and acceptable. Not sure how many years of bad luck one gets from just pissing off a Chinaman but should be much less than the 20 years for killing one.

2 new shiny tanks sitting on our centreboard

While the tanks were out it gave us the opportunity to carry out other maintenance work which would otherwise be very difficult so we replaced the remaining steering and autopilot cables to the quadrant which hadn’t been done in Darwin or Thailand and epoxy painted the section under the tanks. We removed the other (3^rd) fuel tank and cleaned all the crap out that had built up over the last 18 years and installed 2 inspection hatches in the hope it will assist with future cleaning. We removed the water heater that ran off the main engine heat exchange system which has now provided additional storage area for tools and spares. Just have to find a place for the new heater, perhaps a food cupboard will do nicely, negotiations are now underway for approval.

All clean now

 Our microwave died the other day for no reason which meant we had to find a replacement, lucky our local Chinaman appliance shop in Kuah had a similar size. Thinking of buying shares in his shop, prices are no cheaper than OZ even with the 5% discount they so generously haggle over and this is supposed to be a duty free island. So far we’ve bought a fan, an air conditioner and now the microwave and still they treat us if we’ve just arrived from the moon. One thing about Asia is you will never get close to the people, everything is straight down the line, business, business and more business.  

Hardstand flooded even more than last time from monsoonal storm

We arranged for a drum of antifoul which is compatible with our existing paint system and it is manufactured in Singapore but our supplier is located in Pangkor which is half way down the West Coast of Malaysia so we decided rather than risk a local transport company we would catch a ferry to the mainland at Kedah and hire a car for the 9hr return trip. This was exciting!! the car cost 30RM about A$10 for the day which we think was its total value thus negating the need for any insurance. It struggled all the way south and back but thankfully when it started pouring rain the wipers did work which was a great relief as night approached. Top speed was a very shaky 90km/hr even though the limit was 110 on the tollways. By the way we paid more in tolls than the car cost.

Both new tanks secured in place but still plenty to do

We were too late for the last ferry so spent the night in a budget hotel and checked out the local markets the next morning before heading back home with our drum on a very bumpy ferry as the winds had picked up overnight from the west and continued all the way to Langkawi. Most of the locals were laid out flat, throwing-up into plastic bags, some even before we got out past the entrance wall. Thankfully they were sent to the stern of the boat away from us.

You would never get away with this back home - flammable liquids infront of the exit on a passenger ferry

Back on board again we were pleasantly surprised the following day when 2 of the marina staff arrived by forklift with a birthday gift for John which is a custom at Rebak Marina. It wasn’t a large cake and the bottle of red wine was normal size so not quite sure why the forklift, but when in Asia you just go with the flow. We had a meal at the Hard Dock Café with some friends and enjoyed the cake, the red and the company, waking up the next morning with a slight hangover, a complete contrast to last year which was spent at sea en-route to Borneo.

Happy birthday John- they even sang it while we stood on deck above

Cracked a bottle of champas the other day as celebration for completing phase 1 of the work and now at Melbourne Airport on our way back to Sydney for a month to catch up with family and of course buy more boat bits for phase 2. Hopefully get our VHF radio fixed which suffered from severe electrical storms last year.

Beers and Cheers from 35,000 ft

Bye for now,

J&J

Home Sweet Home

It was a tossup, do we exit Thailand the quick way by plane or do the long scenic trip back to Malaysia by train. The cheaper option prevailed and saved us a couple of hundred dollars but boy oh boy was it long. The first class sleeper to Bangkok was very comfy with 2 adjoining single cabins and 1^st class service. We arrived in Bangkok 2hrs late which was OK as our next train didn’t leave for another 6 hrs. We didn’t bother venturing beyond the station as was our intention to have another browse through Chinatown and hopefully pick-up some bargains but we think all the bargains were left behind in Vietnam. Vietnam was definitely the best place to buy the cheap stuff like clothes etc.

All aboard and ready to go.

The trip to Hat Yai was comfy but uneventful and despite arriving on time we still couldn’t make our ferry connection at Satun due to our first bus breakdown of the trip and a change to the ferry timetable due to Ramadan (Muslim fasting month). The next ferry had us waiting for 4hrs and after the 1.5hr trip to Kuah Langkawi a hasty rush through Custom’s clearance, a speedy taxi ride to the Rebak ferry terminal we found that their timetable had changed as well and a further 1hr wait. Eventually we made it 2 days after leaving Chiang Mai. The plane would have taken 6hrs but hey where’s the adventure.

Bangkok Station

Back on board we found that all was OK as we had left it; all the water absorbers were full, the covers were still well fixed, the dingy was covered and well protected, BUT we noticed a bad fuel smell and upon closer inspection found that we had a leaking tank. NOT GOOD!!!! So much for some well -earned R&R, this was not to be.

Back to REALITY!! by the way if your curious its just a chisel handle.

Our intended short stay on board before heading off again has now been extended to sort out this problem which involves replacing not only 1 but 2 fuel tanks as the leaking tank could not be removed without the other. To make things worse the other tank could not be removed intact and had to be cut in two. 1000 curses from each of us to the builder who should have known better. The only saving grace is that by not staying in China for the 2 months as planned we now have time to spend doing the work on the hardstand and in an acceptable timeframe despite the frustrations of Ramadan!!



The offending tank about to be NBO'd

 

With the intended work ahead of us we decided to buy an air conditioner despite already possessing one which is obviously living a very lazy comfortable life back home in our shed. The heat and humidity here are unbelievable and you break out in a sweat just thinking of what’s ahead for the day. The only relief was a cold beer but after much relieving not much work got done, so the AC was a must, despite the unwanted cost.

This one had to be cut to extract it from the cabin

All the businesses in Langkawi and most probably Malaysia are owned by Chinese expats from several generations ago and it’s no wonder they are called the Jews of Asia. They are very difficult to deal with and are unscrupulous businessmen especially with the foreign yachties. They expect payment up front and the lack of competition and closed shop behaviour generally means negotiation is fruitless and they have the advantage. There are ways however to deal with these people and it’s a matter of getting them to potentially “loose face” by demanding they provide proof or evidence of something that you know they can’t, this is the only way to get them to back down and swings the pendulum the other way. You must always be prepared to walk away from the deal and bluff plays a big part of the negotiation. It can be fun and entertaining but it’s a real bitch when you get snookered. The new tanks are currently involved in such negotiations and the outcome hopefully will be to our advantage.



Rebak Hardstand awash after a recent heavy down pour

 We are still hoping to head off and travel through Central and Eastern Malaysia for a couple of weeks before heading back to Oz in October for a month so will try to keep the blog active throughout and hopefully get all the remedial works completed beforehand. We still have all our planned works to complete before splashing again in November.

By the way a few stats from our trip through Asia if you’re interested:

Duration:  101 days

Accommodation: 45 different places, average probably 3 star, prices ranged from AU$15 -$75 per night excluding the boat trips

Total Cost: AU$84 per day, an absolute bargain including everything from start to finish.

Photos Taken: 3,867

Our new Malaysian phone number is +601119631431

Bye for now.

Beers and Cheers from back onboard with our Skol again

J&J

Good Bye Viet Nam, Hello Thai Land

Up at 0530 for an early hotel departure to Hanoi airport for yet another border crossing, this time thankfully by air to Thailand. As a result of our earlier mix up with the 15 day Thai visa and the brief excursion into China our route through Asia was reversed so Hanoi became our end point. We’ve heard so much about Northern Thailand that we decided not to miss it so decided to fly to Chiang Mai via Bangkok whereby we get a 30 day VOA before heading back home to the boat. As border crossings go this was a breeze with one exception in that our pre-booked/paid hotel car became a small unpaid taxi. With the airport 35km away our concerns and tempers rose, once the payment was finalised by the hotel and many lame apologies made to us we squeezed in with our luggage and headed off.  A mile down the road the heavens opened up, it was pouring with rain and guess what NO WIPERS!!! in the middle of Hanoi traffic lucky it was still early. The driver pulled over, raced around the back of the car and pulled out a socket set and 2 wipers from god knows where and then proceeded to install them on the side of the road while we watched in amazement, he then got back in the car soaking wet. Why take them off in the first place we asked ???????, he looked at us as if we were both mad, then turned up his radio and sped off. The only conclusion we could reach was that people steal or vandalise wipers here in Vietnam.

Thankfully our 35km trip to Hanoi airport was marginally better than the Thai version available

30 days in Vietnam virtually to the hour was great with the exception of Hanoi which made our arrival in Chiang Mai very refreshing. The Vietnamese especially in the north are quite aggressive in their manner and you have to reciprocate to gain their respect and avoid being taken advantage of and despite the challenges being somewhat entertaining and profitable at times it does become tiresome. The Thais on the other hand are genuinely very friendly and honest especially in the north a total contrast to Vietnam. Communication in Thailand is still very limited and surprisingly much worse than Cambodia, although we did manage to find a good quiet guesthouse with a lovely lady host named Juan who speaks excellent English, is very well educated and has a great sense of humour.

The scenery in Northern Thailand is stunning

Our first night in Chiang Mai was spent the same as usual finding the closest restaurant with the cheapest beer. We found it after wandering through the local night market and to our surprise it was owned by an Aussie named Bob. The food was nice and the beer was cold, not as cheap as in Vietnam but such is life. It was good to talk with another Aussie for a few hours so we got part of Bob’s story and staggered back to the guesthouse about 2300. Gluttons for punishment we returned the next night to hear more of Bob’s story, this time along with another Aussie traveller, Jason, who we met at the restaurant. As the many stories from all participants filled the air it turned into a session and we left the restaurant at 0400 only to find the guesthouse gates closed and our comfortable bed on the other side. Undaunted by the memories of straddling the marina gates on many occasions back in Townsville after similar sessions these gates were much easier to get over or at least we think they were. We collected the key from reception desk and after almost tripping over the guard asleep on the floor under his mosquito net, we finally hit our bed. The next night we ate at an Indian restaurant that didn’t serve any alcohol and in the opposite direction to Bob’s place.

I'm sure this is what Bob served us that night, by the way it's pronounced pee

We stayed another couple of days and did some sightseeing around Chiang Mai which was once the capital city and like all ancient capitals it has a large Citadel approx. 2km square surrounded by a 50m wide moat. Like all Citadels the walls lay on the cardinal axis with an entrance gate located midway along each wall and the main entry on the Eastern wall usually called the “Victory Gate”. Inside the Citadel the streets are very narrow and a hive of activity from market stalls and restaurants to the ever present Buddhist Temples (Wat). In a way it can be described as medieval in appearance as you wander around you could easily think it’s the 14^th century.

An ancient Chedi within the Citadel

We hired a small car for a week and decided to explore some of the country around Chiang Mai. First we headed off on a loop out to the northwest and found a tourist attraction called the Tiger Kingdom. They breed and keep tigers from cubs through to adults and train them to ignore contact with humans similar to domestic cats. This means that anyone other than small children can have personal contact with a small or full size tiger inside an enclosure with a handler. The owners categorically state that they don’t use drugs like other tiger places but even though we paid for a visit we weren’t fully convinced. The tigers didn’t appear drugged or unbalanced, however the older ones did seem very bored with the constant attention and preferred to lie in the shade and try to sleep. Unfortunately the centre seemed more focused on revenue and punter satisfaction than tiger welfare or lifestyle. We believe that the numerous elephant “training” centres have similar agenda so we declined another chance to ride on an elephant’s back.

A magnificant animal but sadly caged forever

Heading further north we stopped at a small town at the foot of the 3^rd highest limestone mountain in Thailand called Chiang Dao. The guesthouse was located in a rainforest well away from any others and the setting was serene with the only noise coming from the birds and cicadas.  We grabbed a bungalow tucked away in the gardens after a quick dip in the pool then headed out to explore a nearby network of caves. The caves were fantastic and we hired a local guide with a lantern to show us the way through. Huge big galleries were joined by small narrow passage ways we had to crawl through and at the end was a 300m deep chasm which contained water that flowed underground below the mountain and out into an external lake.

A bit of a tight squeeze at times between caverns

We then drove to the end of the guesthouse road to a Buddhist temple where we climbed 510 steps up to a memorial cave dedicated to the founding monk who was awarded the highest recognition possible within the monkhood. We thought the feat of building such a monument was unsurpassable in present time till we travelled the next day to a town called Thaton on the banks of the Mae Nam Kok River a tributary of the Mae Nam Kong (Mekong) River where we visited a 9 level temple and memorial that stretched up a hill for 3km. The effort and expense that goes into the building of these religious structures is mindboggling and is evidence of the strong and dedicated Buddhist beliefs of the Thai people. For all the 1000’s of temple complexes in Thailand none are the same, as each one has its own personality and purpose, the understanding of which would take more than one lifetime. Perhaps the monks do have the keys to all the answers??

A wax model of Luang Poo Sim who reached the highest level in monkhood after a lifetime of dedication and worship to Buddha

From here it was up into the Golden Triangle where all the opium was grown for hundreds of years until recent government regulations amended the laws and changed the agricultural habits of the local hill tribes. The only legal high available is to travel up to 1500m where the hill tribes live perched on the side of the steep mountains growing corn, pineapples, tea, bananas and other assorted vegetables. The views down to the surrounding valley plains are incredible. We visited the Hall of Opium a museum on the banks of the Mekong River at the border junction of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (Burma). The museum instigated by the Kings late mother contained excellent displays depicting the history of the opium trade, wars and ultimate mass addiction of many millions of people in countries worldwide.  Strangely it was the western world which prospered most from the trade and China who suffered the worst. The shoe is now on the other foot so it seems. Beware of the hungry dragon that eats while we sleep.

The scales are made of pressed SS plate and each one is inscribed with the name of a generous benefactor

The size and scale of construction is mindblowing

The monsoon season finally caught up with us and we moved on with a different stop each night at Chiang Rai, Phrae and Lampang before heading back to Chiang Mai. The road this way is less travelled by tourists and it was quite noticeable as the food was ordinary, accommodation basic but expensive and communications very poor. The area had an odd feel about it and the continual rain didn’t help lift our spirits. Because of the rain and lack of any good accessible sightseeing the days were spent driving and laying around in our hotel rooms.

A small boat is the only way home for these locals when the monsoon arrives

Back in Chiang Mai again with 5 days to kill before the first of 2 overnight train trips to Bangkok and Hat Yai close to the Malaysian Border. We decided to have our first Thai massage and our lovely guesthouse owner advised us to go to the old medicine massage school for a proper traditional massage rather than one of the many tourist massage parlours. The massage was excellent and different to the Swedish style we are used to with more limb stretching and pressure point application; there were no happy endings when we both wanted to extend beyond the 1.5hrs we booked. Happy endings of all varieties are optional extras only at the parlours.

The main temple at level 8 Wat Thaton, it has a spiral ramp inside leading up to a viewing platform midway up and masses of buddhas throughout

The next day we were off to a Thai cooking class, yes both of us. The class was made up of 5 other couples from Holland, Italy, France, Ireland, Korea and an excellent Thai teacher named Ann. We learnt how to cook 6 different meals each and all the Thai curry pastes which are essential in Thai food. The course went all day; cost A$30 each and we ate everything we cooked, needless to say we didn’t have to go out for a meal that night.

Guess who?? pounding the chillies to make sexy (hot) curry paste

Well its farewell to Thailand for a few months and back to the boat for some well-earned R&R at Rebak Marina Resort. We have been away from the boat for over 3 months and from Oz for 12 months now although it seems much longer. We have travelled many miles, seen some wonderful sights and had many great experiences. Fortunately this is not the end but just the beginning and hopefully our journey will continue to keep us and you entertained. The blog may become a little quiet for a while and may not be as regular but we will endeavour to keep it active and entertaining.

Bye for now, Beers and Cheers

J&J

North Viet Nam

Nha Trang, what more can we say but beautiful one day perfect the next, less crowded than the Gold and Sunny Coasts with beaches just as good. The weather has been fantastic our whole stay and combined with a bike ride up the coast road sightseeing and some fabulous Indian curries washed down with cold Bia Saigon it was oh so short.

Checking out the action at our favourite Indian restaurant Omar Khyam's in Nha Trang

 The streets here are chaotic like everywhere in Viet Nam and we experienced our first traffic accident when a bike hit our taxi front guard as we left the hotel. The guy was lucky not to fall in front of oncoming traffic and just took off down the road without stopping.

View from our 2nd hotel room in Nha Trang

Our next leg required our first overnighter on a “sleeper” bus, about 550km north to Hoi An, a small city on a river full of French architecture and not much else.  The bus ride surprisingly was not too bad in fact all buses should have these beds instead of bench seats. The bus left at 1930 so we had from midday till then to occupy ourselves. We found a comfy couple of beach chairs with soft cushions and layed back soaking up the sun at a nearby mini brewery on the beach called Louisiane. They brew a variety of nice ales which we sampled at a considerable greater expense than the Bia Saigon we have been drinking. The surf is non-existent similar to Townsville Strand but the water is refreshing and very clean. We’ve been swimming every day so far and its making us a bit homesick for the boat and the peace and quiet that comes with it.

Louisiade Brewery a great way to fill in a couple of hours

Hoi An provided us the opportunity to catch our breath before heading off the next day for the 3hr trip up to Hue (pronounced Hway) the old capital city prior to WW2. This city is full of history and contains a fully functional Citadel which was built during the 1800’s. The Citadel has perimeter walls approximately 10km long x 6m thick and a 30m wide moat to boot. Access is via numerous bridges with impressive gate structures and contained within is the Imperial Palace and about half the population of Hue. The city is situated on the banks of the Perfume River about 16km inland from the coastal beach communities.

One of the many statues in the park

We were coaxed into a hotel on the south side of the river by a very persistent owner and to our surprise we were offered what turned out to be the best quality hotel room so far: Price US$16/night “unbelievable” and that included breakfast, the night before in Hoi An we paid US$18 for a room with a foam mattress and no hot water or breakfast and surly staff, its hit and miss here that’s for sure. The owner and staff bent over backwards for us even showing concern when we ventured out into the heat of the day. The breakfast was great and the chef even convinced us to try a Vietnamese breakfast, his noodle pork broth with mixed greenery called “pho bo”, a far cry from our standard fried eggs with baguette (legacy from the French, neither bread nor roll more like a long round crust full of air and impossible to cut properly without making a mess everywhere)



One of the many entrances to the Imperial Palace within the Citadel

Our first day was spent walking around the Imperial Palace. It is actually a separate Citadel within the main Citadel with its walls 2.5km long, 2m thick and 6m high it was home for about 145 years to the Nguyen Dynasty which was similar in ways to the early Chinese Dynasties in how it operated, with each emperor having many wives, concubines and eunuchs to love and kill as the need arose. We hired another motorbike for 2 days and went out in search of several tombs and temples, some very impressive others just old ruins, depends on how infamous the Emperor was. Tu Duk (pronounced two duck obviously the brother of two dog) well his was the largest and most elaborate even though he wasn’t buried there it is home only to 200 of his trusted staff who were beheaded because they knew the true location of his grave. It’s amazing what you can get away with as King.

Pagoda at one of the temples

Having had enough of strange deathly behaviour we headed to the beach about 16km away for a cool break, only to be inundated with more tombs but on a lesser scale. All along the sand dunes at the back of the beach for miles and miles were family tombs, some much larger than the biggest you would see in a cemetery back home. Apparently money is sent home to Vietnam from relatives overseas and instead of improving their lifestyle they build these huge ugly monstrosities on the beach front. Some even had grass huts built beside them probably as a weekender so mum and dad wouldn’t get lonely. We have seen a few Christian churches in this region but not sure if that is the full explanation.

One of the grandiose beach tombs

 Once past the burial grounds the only beach access is via an assortment of same same restaurant/kiosks with deck chairs and shade covers. You park your bike under cover and yourself on a chair then get waited on for as long as you wish in our case it was 6hrs. Cheap icy Huda beers (brewed locally in Hue) between the swims made for a wonderful afternoon. The entertainment is free as you can play with the seagulls (local hawkers) as they persistently try to sell their wares/food at grossly over inflated prices. They flock to the newcomers and love the uninitiated who pay their list price which is 5 times the local price. We generally pay 2 times the local price and are happy with that. After a lovely afternoon we wobbled our way back to Hue thankfully missing all the potholes and bumps.

Guess who showing off a great set of hudas

Wife no2 getting fleeced by some seagulls (aka hawkers), believe me their is a story!!!

We caught another sleeper for the trip to Hanoi. It took 16 hrs and was pouring rain when we arrived. We finally found a hotel after inspecting about 10 in the Old Quarter which is where “everything IS apparently”. We think it’s where every motorbike in Hanoi is parked too. This place is not just bedlam it’s dangerous. Just walking in the street is a nightmare, you can’t stop or you will be run down, you have to keep moving or dart into a shop, café or restaurant where you then get harassed to buy something. It’s something that must be experienced to get the full appreciation.

The French designed History Museum

This place is where “dining out” means just that; gutter views are the norm with inside tables commanding much higher prices for both beer and food. After much searching we managed to find an excellent midrange restaurant where our gutter view is from a balcony perched on the 3^rd floor rather than 6 inches away like most. The food and beer is twice the price in Hanoi compared with everywhere else and haggling is fruitless. Most of the locals are more than happy to eat and drink in the gutter so this means very little incentive for change.

Sir, your table is ready!!!

The streets of The Old Quarter are more like alleys and contain shops which make every conceivable household product. The shops spill out onto the footpath and at times onto the roadway compromising both pedestrians and vehicles. Each street was in the past named after the products which were sold making it somewhat easier to find. These days it’s more like a maze for tourists as many streets change name part way along and bisect each other at all different angles.

Street dining Viet Nam style can be great fun for some

 After 5 long days we finally headed off to Halong Bay 3.5 hrs away by a very comfortable minibus provided by our Junk charter company Indochina Junks. We boarded the 40m long Dragon’s Pearl 3 at lunchtime for a 3 day 2 night cruise with 9 other couples from around the world. Our air conditioned double cabin was huge with separate en-suite. Unfortunately after the first night we had to change cabins (becoming a bit of a habit) as the AC didn’t work, luckily 1 was spare and provided great relief from the heat the next night.

Looking out from within a cave while kayaking

Halong Bay is similar to Phang Nha Bay in Thailand but about 10 times larger and much more beautiful. We headed to the isolated northern section of the bay and to our surprise was totally void of any other tourist operators other than ours. In 3 days we saw only 3 other Junks and avoided any interaction with them. The first afternoon started with the most incredible thunder and lightning storm as we weaved our way through the many limestone karsts and islands finally anchoring in a natural enclosed lagoon. The rain was so intense it was a virtual whiteout and with the lack of any electrical navigational equipment aboard the boat showed that traditional seafaring skills are well and truly alive in Vietnam. The Captain indicated that his compass was more than enough along with his experience to get where we had to go even with the 40kts squalls.

Our Junk Dragon's Pearl 3 - no speed machine but extremely comfortable

The next day we woke to clear skies and was spent kayaking through numerous caves and then swimming off the side of the junk before visiting a local fishing village. All couples were picked up individually from the junk by a basket boat (hulls made of woven bamboo) rowed by a young lady from the village and taken for a guided tour then returned back to the junk. Next it was off for a most memorable experience as we anchored off on island with a white sand beach and cave midway up the mountain. The crew had arranged to have a barbecue style dinner inside the cave. We arrived from the tender and entered the cave just after dark with our guide Zoe to a triumphant applause from the staff before being seated and presented an absolutely fantastic gourmet 7 course (Vietnamese style) meal with icy cold beers. The cave was only discovered by the charter company in 2007 although inhabited by fishermen for many years in the past. The company relocated the fishermen at considerable expense to preserve the caves integrity as the fishermen were cutting off and selling stalactite and stalagmite pieces. The cave dinner is only available for these cruises and was a real treat.

Our cave dinning table

After a very relaxing time aboard we headed back to base on day 3 with many of the passengers after hearing that we live on a yacht wanting us to commandeer the junk and take it back out to sea and prolong their experience indefinitely. The thought was very tempting and just proved how spoilt we are with our chosen lifestyle.

The cave entrance is in the trees on the right side, you can see thesteps leading up to it from the beach

Back to polluted noisy Hanoi and another 2 days of city life till we fly out to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand on 24th July.

Beers and Cheers in this case Huda from Hue, bye for now. 

J&J