We sailed into Ha Long Bay at about 11 am this morning. The view of the unique bay with thousands of odd shaped islands was just as spectacular as it was 14 years ago, but this time I didn't drop my Vietnamese visa in the ocean. The view was so spectacular that only a view guests on the ship felt it more important to continue their sodoku. Oh well, F. Scott Fitzgerald said that "the very, very rich are not like you or I."
Right after we anchored, the oddly named "Globetrot Princess" appeared in the anchorage site. It is apparently a Chinese cruise ship with a mosque on its stern.* Bet they have a great time onboard, but we decided to turn down any offers to visit and enjoy the service. The Globetrot Princess also appeared to be held together by rust and had a most noticeable list to port. Not ever a good sign.
After observing the view of the 4 year old bridge to China and the apparently 4 year old Ha Long City and of 4 year old resorts through our cabin's window, we took one of the dozen or so junks moored to a barge alongside the Silver Whisper on a "3 hour tour" of Ha Long Bay. We had a great day and ended the afternoon with a mai tai and a sunset from a table on the stern of Whisper. Pretty nifty.
*I researched the curious looking Globetrot Princess after getting home to Boulder. It is a Chinese owned "luxury cruise ship" that was doing essentially gambling two nighters out from Shanghai at least 4 years ago. An excellent review of the ship with some remarkable inside pictures that show that the guest areas are a lot nicer than the outside of the ship can be found at:
http://www.maritimematters.
Note that the mosque like structure is not a religious building but a curious architectural feature that houses a restaurant. Also note that the pictures of the ship when newly refurbished 6 years ago still looked like it was held together by rust and the list appears to be part of the Jia Ri's (its real name) identity.
--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Borsuk <mike@mborsuk.com>
Date: 2010/2/11
Subject: Re: Updates to trip journal posted
To: Phil Griffiths
Phil,
Super to hear from you. Still in the Gulf of Tonkin but back home in Colorado next week.
Lots of comments about Silversea but food is spectacular and service in general is very good. (Enjoy!). Biggest problem is that the forward crew lift is broken so that all the butlers are using the guest one. Every time the door opens, it looks like a penguin convention.
Cheers,
Mike
2010/2/9 Phil Griffiths <pg@businessrisk.co.uk>
Mike
Looks as though Barbara and yourself are having a fun trip.
The blog is really entertaining – it brings back memories – particularly our discussions on board about the absurdity of Silversea protocols
It is also quite educational – I had never heard of Nha Trang.
I particularly love the signs – looking forward to the final chapter of the trip
Kind regards
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