Hanoi - Halong Bay : Days 5 & 6

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Wow. That's how I would describe the scenery of Halong Bay. Truth be told, this is why I wanted to come to Vietnam - to see Halong Bay. The day started off a bit hectic - still trying to adjust to the time zone I woke up at 3:30 am I finally fell back asleep a couple of hours later. Of course I didn't get my wake up call so when I finally woke up I had less than 30 mins to pack, shower, eat and meet my car that was scheduled to pick me up at 8:30. So rushing to take a shower and pack a light bag for the overnight trip, I was finally on my way. If I thought that getting out to the city would make the road life seem less hectic - I was wrong. Let's just say that driving is a special skill/art here. So after 3.5 hours of dodging cars, motorbikes and bicycles caring all sorts of things (including live pigs, ducks and chickens) we finally arrived at the Halong Bay pier. It was a well organized circus. When my captain finally said it was time to board our boat - I had no idea that I would be climbing over 3 junk boats to get to a boat that would take us to our boat (this is why it's best not to travel with wheeled luggage). Our boat consisted of a German family, a mother/daughter from Malaysia, and an Australian couple. On board we have this amazing seafood lunch of steamed shrimp, crab, clams, stewed squid, fried fish and some other things. I like this cruise already. After lunch, we view "the cave" of Halong Bay and I have to admit that I am impressed. Our tour guide points out how some of the rock formations looks like ... a couple kissing, a woman sitting on a laughing man's knee, a large tortuous and well ... a large penis (red lighting and all) pointing towards a hole in the ceiling. If you used your imagination you could see a lot of things. For a modest country - you should have heard the comments/jokes my tour guide was telling me. I think he was trying to shock me. After the caves, we went to another island where I climbed up 425 steps to the top (yes, I counted) to see the sun set on Halong Bay. That was probably my favorite moment of the day. Later that evening we had a lovely dinner and interesting conversation - illegal immigration. The US is not the only country with this problem and it was interesting to hear other perspectives. I ended the evening reading my book while looking out onto the bay. It was so nice sleeping with the windows open and smelling / hearing the water all night. I can only say that the pictures I took do no justice to the true beauty of the bay.

When I arrived back in Hanoi, I learned that my friend Tara arrived and was out with some friends seeing the town. We met up and now I got to see the city on the back of a locals bike (well for only a couple of blocks). We ended the evening at a lovely restaurant - Ling, Craig and his sweet girlfriend were such lovely hosts. Craig is originally from New York and is now lives in Hanoi running a school teaching English. As much as New York has to offer - the only thing he said he misses are the bagels. Maybe New York doesn't have it all.

I've had a great time in Northern Vietnam - I wish I could spend more time here but I'm off to Hoi An tomorrow. Can't wait to see what it has to offer.

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Photos

Junk Boat
A typical Junk Boat in Halong Bay

Halong Bay
One of the many views of Halong Bay