May 19, 2009
We had decided on this second day to try to hire one of the junks that sail around Halong Bay. We went with Judy and Erica again along with Roger and his wife. When we got off the shuttle bus Judy and Roger did the negotiating and we agreed on $15 a person for four hours. We didn’t realize until we got on the boat that it was actually a boat for 20-30 people, so the six of us had this large junk to ourselves. On the way to the boat dock we encountered one of the many pearl sellers, this one following us along trying to get our attention. Much to my surprise I was the one who ignored her and Ronnie actually talked with her about her merchandise. They seemed to negotiate for some time and we were approaching our dock. Ronnie offered her a ridiculously low price and she, of course, turned it down. Ronnie walked on and lo and behold this enterprising lady went back and got her motorbike and met us up ahead. A determined entrepreneur. She agreed to Ronnie’s price for some truly beautiful sets of pearls, and Ronnie gave her the name “Motorcycle Rosie.”
On the ship, a lady also came out with a large bag, and set up her own little pearl display on the deck. What convenient shopping! Roger’s wife, who said she didn’t wear pearls, tried on some strands that truly looked great on her. So she did end up buying a couple of strands. On the junk we travelled through these incredible rock spires in the harbor as if we were in a forest. To say breathtaking would be an understatement. Our boat soon entered a harbor carved out of one of these rock islands. A lot of junks and other boats crowded the harbor, so we knew there was something special about this place. We got off and walked off the dock to a path leading to a ticket both. They had told us on the boat that it would cost $2.50 each, but the lady wanted $3, because she was only giving 1300 dong to the dollar, when the going rate was 1700. Ronnie and the others did not want to pay, but the junk had left to pick us up at a pick up point at the end of the path. I said, “It’s fifty cents; we are not going to win this argument, so let’s pay and get going.” They kept talking about the “principle of the thing,” but I was beyond the principle at that point.
And we were glad we bought a ticket. What incredible limestone caves awaited us! And I mean HUGE, with pretty lighting and many stalactites and stalagmites. It was a long hike up to the entrance and then about a 20 minute walk through. After walking back down, we re-boarded the junk and sailed to a secluded bay in between the rock formations where they had many house boats and bank boats (yes, a floating bank!) and other shops on boats. Our captain wanted to stop at a fish boat where we they sold fresh fish to eat on the spot, but we were concerned about getting back in time, so we continued on around the bay. We arrived back at the dock and found Motorcycle Rosie waiting for us. Actually, we were glad because some of the others had seen Ronnie’s bargains and they wanted to get the same deals. So a number of our group were negotiating as we walked again. We ended the day at a market by the shuttle stop where, yes, there were more pearl bargains. My deal of the day was a long handle wooden shoe horn and a wooden comb, both with mother of pearl inlay for a total of $2 US.
We boarded the ship to head for Hong Kong, but not before checking out some of the pier side vendors who did have some good bargains, especially for some hand painted canvasses.
We had decided on this second day to try to hire one of the junks that sail around Halong Bay. We went with Judy and Erica again along with Roger and his wife. When we got off the shuttle bus Judy and Roger did the negotiating and we agreed on $15 a person for four hours. We didn’t realize until we got on the boat that it was actually a boat for 20-30 people, so the six of us had this large junk to ourselves. On the way to the boat dock we encountered one of the many pearl sellers, this one following us along trying to get our attention. Much to my surprise I was the one who ignored her and Ronnie actually talked with her about her merchandise. They seemed to negotiate for some time and we were approaching our dock. Ronnie offered her a ridiculously low price and she, of course, turned it down. Ronnie walked on and lo and behold this enterprising lady went back and got her motorbike and met us up ahead. A determined entrepreneur. She agreed to Ronnie’s price for some truly beautiful sets of pearls, and Ronnie gave her the name “Motorcycle Rosie.”
On the ship, a lady also came out with a large bag, and set up her own little pearl display on the deck. What convenient shopping! Roger’s wife, who said she didn’t wear pearls, tried on some strands that truly looked great on her. So she did end up buying a couple of strands. On the junk we travelled through these incredible rock spires in the harbor as if we were in a forest. To say breathtaking would be an understatement. Our boat soon entered a harbor carved out of one of these rock islands. A lot of junks and other boats crowded the harbor, so we knew there was something special about this place. We got off and walked off the dock to a path leading to a ticket both. They had told us on the boat that it would cost $2.50 each, but the lady wanted $3, because she was only giving 1300 dong to the dollar, when the going rate was 1700. Ronnie and the others did not want to pay, but the junk had left to pick us up at a pick up point at the end of the path. I said, “It’s fifty cents; we are not going to win this argument, so let’s pay and get going.” They kept talking about the “principle of the thing,” but I was beyond the principle at that point.
And we were glad we bought a ticket. What incredible limestone caves awaited us! And I mean HUGE, with pretty lighting and many stalactites and stalagmites. It was a long hike up to the entrance and then about a 20 minute walk through. After walking back down, we re-boarded the junk and sailed to a secluded bay in between the rock formations where they had many house boats and bank boats (yes, a floating bank!) and other shops on boats. Our captain wanted to stop at a fish boat where we they sold fresh fish to eat on the spot, but we were concerned about getting back in time, so we continued on around the bay. We arrived back at the dock and found Motorcycle Rosie waiting for us. Actually, we were glad because some of the others had seen Ronnie’s bargains and they wanted to get the same deals. So a number of our group were negotiating as we walked again. We ended the day at a market by the shuttle stop where, yes, there were more pearl bargains. My deal of the day was a long handle wooden shoe horn and a wooden comb, both with mother of pearl inlay for a total of $2 US.
We boarded the ship to head for Hong Kong, but not before checking out some of the pier side vendors who did have some good bargains, especially for some hand painted canvasses.
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