Roughing It - Cruising Halong Bay, GAP style

You all know that the reason I like GAP is that they so not do high-end tours. We stay in small scale family run guesthouses, travel by overnight train and local buses, and eat in local restaurants. But sometimes, as I have experienced several times in the past, they have a surprise for you.

We took a three hour drive out from Hanoi to Halong Bay, probably Northern Vietnam's most famous site (if you don't count a dead body sitting in an air conditioned tomb). I knew we had an overnight stay with cabins, and that all meals included, so I was looking forward to a little rustic relaxation.

There were tons of boats and people waiting, seemingly everyone doing something similar to us. We were shown to our boat by our local guide, it was about noon, and were greeted by the following sight:
















"Ummm, before you sit down to a sumptuous seafood lunch" said Erin, our GAP leader, "you should each check into your cabins". Because the composition of the new group is odd numbers, I now find myself with a private room for the rest of the trip, without paying a single suppliment.

And the cabin looked like this, complete with nice linens, silk bathrobes, an immaculate PRIVATE bathroom (huge surprise), complete with little shampoos, toothpastes, razors etc...














After settling in, we headed up to the main deck for our lunch. It was a total feast of seafood, so a Chilian Sauvignon Blanc was in order (it wasn't just me, practically everyone ordered wine!). Then out came order after order of food. We started with jumbo prawns with butter and garlic, which was quickly followed by fresh local crab. The fantastic waiters gave us a quick lesson in crab cracking, and assured us the finger bowls were not some lemon and flower soup. This was followed by calamari, a fresh fish dish, rice (of course), beautiful veggies and a dessert of fresh local fruits.














As you can see, the table was set immaculately, and as we were dining, we were also cruising through some of the most stunning scenery imaginable.

As I said, sometimes GAP really surprises you!