Halong Bay, Day 2

Friday, 9.2.2018

There would have been the option to participate in a Tai Chi course at 6:30 am. I have often observed this "senior sport" in China and prefer to sleep half an hour longer now that I finally sleep well again. The boat sets in motion and sails to a bay where - logically - there are many other boats. One of these islands has some infrastructure (port and stairs) and you can go uphill to a cave. Like ants, tourists walk up there. As I said, it's off-season, so everything is still relaxed. The cave is not on our program until tomorrow. The breakfast is delicious and still sunny. But then the sun hides and doesn't appear anymore. Then we transfer to a excursion boat and sail further out into the bay, now we hardly see any other ships. We decline the option to kayak as it is really chilly and it's not ideal to get soaking wet in the cold. I also don't feel like changing my jacket for a swimsuit. The water is between 18 and 20°C, which would be okay for a few strokes, but after seeing a huge white jellyfish, I gladly forgo the wet element. This jellyfish is allegedly not poisonous, but there are apparently ones that really hurt and it takes about 2 hours for the pain to subside. I don't need that. So I enjoy the beautiful carst landscape and the emptiness. The food here is also fantastic. On a beautifully set table, we get a lot of seafood, fish, tofu for me as a vegetarian, vegetables and dessert. By 3 p.m., we are back on our ship, the Calypso.

Since today's program is the same as yesterday (spring roll cooking class, fishing and karaoke), I have a lot of free time. I have a lot to read with me.