Day 6 – Yen Duc Village

Of course I got up early.  In addition to the fact that I don’t sleep when I travel, I wasn’t about to miss out on a sunrise over the beautiful bay.  Due to the overcast sky, it turned out to be uneventful. We were served an early breakfast because all 500 of us had another date: to see “Surprise” Cave, officially known as Hang Sung Sot.  Despite the Disneyland crowd, the cave was indeed surprising!  It opened to a cavernous room full of stalactites and stalagmites that were gently lit up with soft hues of colorful lights.

Of the 5 famous caves in the bay, Surprise Cave is considered the most magnificent

About 1,600 people live in floating houses on the bay.  These ladies row around selling their goods.

Back on board they were anxious to feed us again as we sailed back to the port. We don’t normally gain weight when we travel but if we keep up at this rate, and the 7-course meals, we’ll be rolling off the plane in SFO.  During brunch we were informed that all cruises were canceled for the day – using threatening words like typhoon and cyclone.  The water in the bay was definitely choppier than the day before, and when the ship turned to position into the port, the strong wind hit us broad-side causing quite a bit of lean.  It made me feel exceptionally appreciative that we had an opportunity to see the beauty of Halong Bay.  I felt bad for the 1,000 tourists who had just arrived from Hanoi after driving 4 hours only to discover that they would be promptly turning around to drive another 4 hours back to the city.  What a crushing disappointment that must have been for them!  The downside for us was that they took our transportation with them, so we were stranded for 2 1\2 hours at the port until a fresh convoy of vans could rescue us.  The company, Indochina Junk, made it up to us by giving us each an Oreo, cup of coffee, and horrible WiFi.

Reunited again with our Brazilian friends, we drove the 1 hour to Yen Duc with them and three Americans who chose the excursion at the last minute when the second night of their cruise was canceled.  Their misfortune worked well for us because without them, it would have been just me and Greg on the Yen Duc Village home-stay tour, and it is definitely more entertaining when shared with good people.  Our Hanoi tour guide Dory informed us “there is no reason to go to Yen Duc.” However, the Indochina agent sold me with “people like the night in the village better than the bay cruise”.  It turns out they were both right – for different reasons.  Dory thought someone duped us into thinking we couldn’t drive the 4 hours non-stop, and Yen Duc proper is a dusty hole on the side of the highway. But Indochina-Junk saw an opportunity a mile into the country and created a successful business showing people the peaceful, farming village life in a rural, beautiful setting.

Indochina-Junk's home-stay in Yen Duc Village

Arriving a few hours late, our host quickly distributed bikes and pedaled us to the water puppet show.  Luckily there were only two scenes because it wasn’t the most interesting show we’ve seen.  The concept is unique: the puppeteers hide behind a screen to tell folklore by manipulating puppets using a curtain of about two feet of water to hide the controllers.

Water puppet show

Talented puppeteers

Next we practiced the old-world style of harvesting rice. It was fun and hard work, and of course they use more modern techniques now.

Separating the husks from the rice

Then we modeled the latest fashion of (semi) waterproof gear so we could go fishing in a pond. It was rather entertaining!  I started as the photographer and laughed with each step Greg took; he was stuck in the mud so used the trap more as a support.  There was no way we would be sneaking up on any fish!  We aren’t the first visitors without skills so they actually trapped a fish for each one of us. Then we were to stick our hand into the trap to swish around and tire the fish – at which point we can grab it and drop it in the bucket. As soon as my hand made contact with the fish, I screamed and became the photographer again.

It was as funny as it looks!

Our fishing ensemble

It seemed like it couldn’t get better, especially since it was getting late, but our guide “Cherry” took us to the broom lady’s house. She was absolutely delightful, expressive, and had a great smile and laugh!  She taught us how to make a broom.  For whatever reason, Greg and I instinctively combined our effort to make just one broom.  It isn’t exactly easy to create something out of sticky rice stalks, so there was a lot of laughing going on.  Somehow the two of us pulled off a pretty respectable broom and I suspect it is going to be a special souvenir reminding us of the time we spent together in Vietnam. 

Wonderful, expressive broom lady

Our cherished broom

At this point the only thing between our grumbling bellies and dinner was winding through pitch dark, narrow streets on our bikes warning “beep beep” like a human horn at every blind turn.  It was unforgettable!