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Published: March 13th 2010
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Halong Bay is one of the major sights in Vietnam and the sheer number of tour operators in Hanoi is testament to its popularity. Without any recommendations it is difficult to know who to book through so we spent a morning shopping around before deciding who to part our money with. There seems to be three price categories; budget, midrange and deluxe. We opted for midrange as we could not see the extra value with the deluxe options whilst the budget options looked just like that. We also decided on the two night option which would give us an extra night on the main island, Cat Ba.
We set off early by minibus with the other people we would be sharing our tour with; an Irish couple about our age, an older English couple, a single Spanish bloke and a young Vietnamese girl. There was also our guide, Chuk, his girlfriend, and a Vietnamese bloke who was a tour guide from Sapa who was learning about Halong Bay.
We arrived at Halong City port where we were to board the boat and were confronted with thousands of people and hundreds of boats. We climbed over a few boats and
finally boarded ours and were impressed (and relieved) with the size and facilities on the boat, as well as the staff. We set sail (under engine power) into the bay whilst enjoying a seafood lunch, plus a bit of tofu as one of the couples was vegetarian... yuck!
Halong Bay is spectacular, thousands of rock formations jut out of the sea to form islands covered in vegetation. Only one of the islands is inhabited, Cat Ba Island, where we would spend our second night.
We visited one of the islands which housed a massive cave. Chuk explained how the cave was created and pointed out various natural formations such as animals, faces, and other body parts which the Buddhist people believe make the cave sacred (some were more obvious than others).
We took a walk up to the summit of another island to see the great view. It was hot work so Dan took a swim afterwards but the water was like the English Channel so Natalie just waded in to her ankles.
Just before sunset we paddled off in some kayaks through a cave which led into an inland lake. We looked out for the
monkeys which apparently live there but none were seen or heard. That evening we saw the most beautiful sunset whilst in our kayak. Apparently it had been cloudy for the last 10 days so we felt lucky to have seen it.
Just before dinner there was another opportunity for Dan to jump off something high... the top of the boat! So along with the other boys they climbed, jumped and bombed into the sea.
Chuk joined us after dinner and gave us a fascinating account of Vietnamese history and the general populations’ opions of the communist government. It was interesting to hear how people live under such a government which is so different to our own.
The following morning we disembarked the boat for a smaller one which was to take us to Cat Ba Island where we would trek into the jungle and meet a local couple who live there. We followed a narrow path up and over a steep ridge until we came to a clearing. An old couple had lived here for 20 years with their only regular outside contact being with the guides of the trek which come by every 4-5 days. They
Halong Bay Boats
Some of the hundreds of boats... grow vegetables and have fruit trees and ask the guides to bring them anything additional when they require it. Their home was a raised wood, bamboo and palm frond hut with three walls and hammocks and benches for beds. They were really welcoming, the old lady chatted loudly with the Vietnamese, which was translated into English by Chuk; she was particularly fascinated by the older woman in our group. Warm peanuts and bananas from their trees were eaten and hot tea drunk. They must have liked us as the home brew rice wine, complete with honeycomb and bees mixed inside, was brought out. It was strong stuff and an acquired taste but great to share with the couple. After staying for a while we walked back, a little wobbly, to the boat.
Many people live on the water in wooden houseboats making a living from fishing and cultivation of oysters and other seafood. We stopped at one of the houses and saw how they farm fish and oysters and other shellfish and then sampled one of these other shellfish for lunch; another acquired taste with an interesting texture!
That evening we stayed on Cat Ba Island in a
very plush hotel. We really wanted to stay in and enjoy the luxury but we headed out to be social with some of the group. We indulged in more rice wine courteously of Chuk as well as a Vietnamese massage whilst watching Man City v. Chelsea. All the Vietnamese were loudly enjoying the game whilst pouring rice and snake wine for all the tourists, a good night.
The next day we boarded our boat and cruised back to Halong Bay. The weather was very different to the previous day with low cloud and mist so we enjoyed a totally different view of the bay. It was a great couple of days and definitely a highlight of our trip so far.
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