'DO YOU know how to swim?' That was the first question my tour guide asked me on the day I started my Vietnam adventure.

I was in the country for a week-long break to kayak and scuba dive, besides spending some quiet time with myself.

The adventure bug had bitten me when a friend coaxed me to visit the Forest Adventure in this city.

The fox-trots, the hurdles, the climbing and all the jumping around from tree to tree for two hours  left me yearning for more. I craved fmore excitement and signed up for the kayak-scuba dive-hiking tour to Vietnam on impulse.

I was surprised when my tour agency informed me that it was okay that I can’t swim. I immediately signed up for the tour, more than happy that I qualified for the sport even though I did not fulfil the basic requirement!

Yes, I can not swim. Yet, I wanted to scuba dive and having tried my hand at kayaking once earlier, I wanted to do it again.

The green signal from the tour agency encouraged me and I was in high spirits as I arrived at Halong Bay, whose seas boast of 1,969 islands scattered in its waters. Some of them do not even have names.

Halong Bay, Vietnam. PHOTO: Jane Lim

The view was breathtakingly beautiful and the seas were expectedly calm and serene. But, needless to say, when  D-Day arrived, I was shaking in my boots.

As my ferry made its way to an appropriate corner of the vast landscape which was rich in coral, I was very nervous.

My diving instructor was amazed at my guts for wanting to dive without even knowing how to swim.

I looked at him confidently and replied with all the calmness I could muster: 'I can't swim. But I can sink!! Isn't that more than essential for diving?'

He was amused and nodded in response. We were ready to go.

My first attempt was a disaster. Wearing the heavy rubber suit was  chore enough, but carrying the oxygen cylinder on my back made me feel like Atlas balancing the Earth on his shoulders.

I could not keep my breathing mouthpiece between my teeth and more than once, forgot to breath through my mouth. I ended up with water up my nostrils while attempting to go under.

My instructor had to pull me up even as I goofed up and gasped for breath, coughing and spitting out sea water. I grappled with the equipment, struggled to remember their functions and tried hard to memorize the sign language which was to be used under the sea. I ended up all confused.

During my first attempt I managed to sink three meters deep before my ears started to ache due to water pressure. I flapped around in the sea like a fish out of water, desperately trying to tell my instructor that I needed to get to the surface. He made futile attempts to calm me down and finally we decided to take a break.

We were served lunch and despite all the sumptous delicacies before me, I could hardly swallow the food. The sea water in my stomach refused to accomodate anything remotely tasty. I had to refuse the food and just go off to sleep.

When I woke up after two hours, I was more confident and more in control of my emotions.

'Don't panic', my instructor said to me as we entered the waters again. One look at him and I knew he was in total control.

I dived again, and this time I took deep, reassuring breaths from the mouthpiece. I gave him the all okay sign and he held my hand and led me into the wonderful world of coral and fish and other beautiful life forms that awaited me 7 meters under the surface.

As I touched those silky smooth plants and swam with a school of fish, I was mesmerised. I forgot about my ear pain, I forgot about the equipment problems, I forgot about the time.

All I knew was that I was part of a hidden world, which is so near us and yet so far. A world so beautiful that I did not want to leave it. A world which is on a verge of collapse because a selfish beast called man is killing it with a bombardment of pollution.

When I reluctantly came out of the water, after a triumphant second attempt, I was elated beyond explanation. My instructor was pleased and congratulated me on my success.

My tour later included canoeing, but the memories of the underwater world came back to crowd my thoughts as I slowly rowed over the silent waters.

All alone in the open sea, surrounded by beautiful rocks and unobtrusive local fishermen on their floating villages, I rowed for hours together, just to feel near to this wonderful world of deep sea creatures, only meteres below my canoe. 

I left Cat Ba Islands with a heavy heart. I do not know when I will ever get a chance to dive again, although I can canoe to my heart's content in the various reservoirs of this city.

It may not be the same, but I may re-live the feelings of being so close to some of the most beautiful living beings in the world.
 
This very thought encourages me to seriously pursue canoeing as a hobby; but first I need to learn to swim.