The Magical Bay

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From Hanoi we took a minibus along with 10 others to Halong City where we boarded a Pagoda style boat which would be our home for the next couple of days. We cruised into the surreal seascape of Halong Bay, with all the limestone pinnacles protruding from the sea, it makes a spectacular sight.


Halong translates as 'where the dragon descends into the sea' and the legend says the islands were created by a great dragon's flailing tail which gouged out valleys as it plunged into the sea. These valleys have since filled with water leaving more than 3000 limestone islands and a lovely magical landscape.


A couple from New Zealand recognised us from a previous hotel we had stayed in and we got chatting, soon the whole group started socializing and we made some more friends. These kind of group tours are much more enjoyable if you meet nice people, thankfully we did!


We cruised around the bay weaving between the islands sitting on the top of our boat taking in the panoramic view. It really does look impressive. We stopped a couple of times to visit some of the caves and chambers that are on some of the islands and we anchored for a while so we could spend some time kayaking. I think Sharon preferred the bigger boat though :-)


We ate all our meals on the boat, sharing tables with fellow travellers and sharing experiences too. In the evening we enjoyed a beer or two together on the roof before the rain came and we retired to our own little ensuite cabin. It was a memorable trip and something we would definately recommend.

After the tranquility of crusing around Halong Bay, it was back to the hectic Hanoi.

We've changed our plans slightly and have decided to fly back to Bangkok and then go up to Chaing Mai in Thailand. Our craving of Thai food has gotten the best of us. We got a really good deal on the flight, now we just need to hope our bags are under 15kg each! :-)

So next stop Thailand.... again!

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Comments

[anonymous]

Which tour did you guys do?

[Chad Sharon]

sorry, it was a few years ago and we have forgot the name. We are making note of these things now as we are aware of how much it helps fellow travellers. hope you a have a great time, the area was beautiful.