Bolger Family Travels: Yak Life

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Yak Life

Of all the unusual places I've kayaked, including Antarctica, the Arctic, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and all around the U.S., I can now go on record as saying that Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, is the most unusual.

Yes, even more so than Antarctica and the Arctic, because, when I was a kid, the U.S. wasn't in the throes of losing its first war at the furthest reaches south and north on the planet.

It was far from my best paddle ever -- I was unexpectedly placed by myself in a two person, sit-on-top kayak. So I was slow, slow, slow, as my weight caused the front of the kayak to lift up. And, in a windy spot like we were, it's definitely not the most aerodynamic way to knife through the water.

Oh, and did I mention my feet were too big for the plastic footholds in the yak, so I kept getting caught. Finally, if it weren't bad enough to use a sit on top providing less control for my paddling, but to significantly increase my odds of falling into the water I had to climb two feet down into the kayak along side the dock. There was no easy kayak launcher, nor a sandy beach (or even rocks) to push oneself in.

I came close both getting in and getting out to unceremoniously ending up in the water, and yet I didn't. Phew. Given the amount of kayaking I do (a lot), that would have been an embarrassing outcome!

The paddle itself was great. Six kayakers in four boats went out -- Becky and Vicki, Vale and Ron, Sonny, and myself. I had assumed I'd partner up with someone (six into three yaks), so imagine my surprise when I got in the yak off the dock, and then they pushed me to go off on my own.

It was fine, but it also would have been nice to know the plan!

Btw, the rest of the group (except poor puking Carol, of course) went out on a sampan, where they took in the scenery whilst someone paddled for them.

The paddle itself was pretty interesting, as we went through a cave and paddled around a big bay surrounded by karsts. The folks in the sampan were also able to go into the secret bay. Bigger boats can not make it in.

Every so often the wind would kick up and change my direction. Of course, there seemed to be a direct relationship between the times I was taking iPhone photos and the times the wind increased.