Halong Bay, Where the Dragon Descends

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Halong Bay, Vietnam's most famous natural attraction and a UNESCO Heritage Site, was a much awaited part of our journey. The images of the surreal, sometimes eerie limestone formations coming out of the still green waters were facsinating to say the very least. We were looking forward to exploring the Bay with a tour on a Chinese junk boat, with an overnight stay on the boat in a secluded part of the Bay.

Our bus ride to Halong City from Hanoi was promising. The 14 strangers with whom we were going to spend 2 days and 1 night with was young, fun and diverse. However, upon arrival at the Halong City dock, we were told that we two would separate from the group, as Princess Bianca's request for an air-conditioned room was not available on all boats! (Bianca: It was 39C in Hanoi that week, I just had to have my A/C!)

In the end after a short wait on the dock our junk boat was much nicer than the previous groups' and our room was beautiful! We had the back of the boat, with a bathroom, and 2 huge windows with breathtaking views of the Bay!

Halong Bay is beautiful. Although it is often poorly compared with the remote beach islands of Thailand's Phuket, this bay is totally different and actually supports villages of fisher people who live in the bays and on the small rock islands. The natural beauty of Halong Bay is just one of its many facets.

After some cold beers and lunch, we stopped at a large island housing a group very large caves. The spectacular caverns were incredibly cool compared to the incredible heat outside and were the shelters of many fisher people before they were "relocated" in 1994 after Halong Bay was declared a UNESCO Heritage site. The many stalagmites and stalactites formations were beatuiful and the cave was very well maintained, with proper lighting, etc, able to hold the many visiting tourists. On the Bay today, there were at least 300 junk boats, with an average of 15 people on each boat! (This is off-season!)

After a few hours of cruising through the Bay we anchored for some swimming and Kayaking. See the islands up close and personal was a inspiring site. Kayaking through the bay was very relaxing as the the water was so still and so calm. The power of the sea to punish the hard rock and create beautiful secluded beaches along the shores of larger islands was amazing. As the boat set anchor three small boats appeared out of nowhere to circle the boat with of all things: hawkers. These young and old ladies were selling everything from soft drinks, Pringles, Oreo cookies to lovely lychees and pineapples. Oh and cold beers too! These enterprising women knew when to approach the boats and were always at the right place at the right time.

We then headed back to the boat to lounge around and catch a stunning sunset. With the limestone formations in the background, and the wonderful colors in the sky, this was surely a sight that was not to be missed.

At sundown, the boat anchored again, for dinner and for the rest of the night. We had a nice dinner with our fellow travelers with some local Dalat wine, and headed off to bed.

Waking up to a Halong Bay view is spectacular. We had breakfast in the morning, and then cruised up to Cat Ba Island, where we were dropping off some of the passengers (who were on the 2 night cruise) and picking up a new bunch for our journey back to Halong City.

We passed some more fishing villages in the water, which was just amazing to see. After a relaxing time on the boat reading, we arrived back to Halong City for a lunch at a restaurant with all the passengers of different boats.

This was a truly relaxing trip. It was beautiful to see the islands and formations so close up, and to explore the area. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far.

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Comments

[Mark]

Wow!
These photos are amazing! Where are you buying them? They must be costing you a fortune. I can't wait for the slide show. Are you eating lots of seafood? Have you found a great chef to bring home with you? Sounds like you're having a great vacation but come home soon. We miss you!