It's a wanderful life, so it is

It is a pleasure to be the first of what I hope will be several guest bloggers on the renowned “It’s a wanderful life, so it is” blog, and I feel the immense pressure on my shoulders with that. The writing will likely be very different and likely with fewer puns however, I am my parents’ son…

Ha Long Bay was the destination. For years I had listened to my parents pining on about Ha Long Bay, and I was finally going to join them in the experience. I had looked forward to the whole holiday ever since it was first being planned, but in particular, it was these two days that piqued my interest. Our day began with an early wake-up and drive from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, and let’s just say I could get used to the style in which my parents travel.

Then we arrived at the dock, heaving with people and so many boats spread across the waters nearby waiting to be filled. We had to take a small boat out from the dock, weaving in and out of other boats to eventually arrive at our boat, THE boat, the Dragon Legend. As much as I have heard a lot about Vietnam and Ha Long Bay from my parents over the years, 70% of that can be accounted for by the Dragon Legend. To be fair to my parents, looking at it in comparison to the surrounding boats, it was absolutely the pick of the lot. As you can see from the earlier photo and photos below, my parents’ smiles only get larger as they near closer to the famed boat until they are finally reunited, at last. I could quickly see why after taking a quick glance at the rooms too!

We set sail in a slightly different direction to all other boats and the outcome was extraordinary. Slowly breezing through the almost static water, in between massive karsts without a sound nearby, with exception of course being the sound of my parents asking for a couple of ciders!

Having meandered for a while and eaten our delicious lunch, it was time to leave the boat to explore the well-hidden Thien Canh Son Cave. Our guide was very informative and detailed in discussing the lore around the creation of the karsts and caves, unfortunately my brain is like a sieve, and I have retained none of that. I do however remember the mention of a dragon, safe to say I was lost after that.

Having explored the cave and returned to the boat, it was then straight back off to go kayaking. The thing I had heard most from my parents’ experience of this previously was that my mother did all the work at the front while my da did nothing at the back. As someone who has now witnessed this in person, I have to say that my mother in this instance was incorrect. If anything, I think my da was making things harder for her! Despite being on my lonesome in a kayak, it was a truly remarkable experience. Never have I experienced anything quite so tranquil and peaceful, until hearing my parents trying to manoeuvre themselves both in and out of a shallow cave.

Having successfully avoided falling into the water during our time off the boat (as much as we would have loved a swim), we returned to the boat to freshen up before meeting again for dinner. Luckily, we were hungry as we sat ourselves down for a seven-course meal, which safe to say, defeated each of us. Below are just some of the delicious seafood-based courses that were served (and portioned for one person).

At the end of the meal my mother was embarrassed to receive a birthday cake (which was more like a massive marshmallow covered in chocolate) with some candles on top, delivered by the staff singing and clapping their hands. Sadly, the photo below will not do justice for how red her face was at the time.

After staying up for some drinks on the deck in the peaceful night, we called it a night and headed to bed for rest. Waking up nice and early, there was no better way to start the morning than with some Tai Chi on the top deck at 6am sharp. Feeling very strange trying to follow the movements at first, it quickly became an incredibly difficult to describe experience. The soothing traditional music, slow and calm movements while drifting through the karsts over the eerily clam waters, truly something I won’t forget.

The final part of the trip my Da, for some reason (old age), decided to sit out of and just spent his time on the boat (likely sleeping). This meant that it was just myself and my mother to venture onto a small boat again, joined by two others. We would be paddled through the eerily quiet waters admiring what remained of what was once a massive floating village, and was now a much smaller fishing village. Regardless of the size difference to what it would have been years ago, it was still incredible to be gliding through the waters in awe of these floating houses that even came with their own guard dogs!

To say that these photos did not do the experience justice is an understatement. I could not recommend this more to anyone, and the company wasn’t bad either!
I, like many of you I am sure, are looking forward to returning to your regular bloggers. I can imagine it’s a lot easier to get this done when you don’t have to be concerned about working anymore!
Signing off, Niall Murphy.