Ha Long Bay

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Ha Long Bay, which translates to Descending Dragon Bay (as supposedly the karst formations were formed by a crash-landing dragon sent by the gods to protect the country from an invading army), is a 3-hour drive from Hanoi. We passed lots of rice and vegetable fields, sometimes with tombstones in the middle. Along the way we stopped at an embroidery factory that employs children born with deformities because their parents were exposed to Agent Orange, and also a cultured pearl factory. As we drew closer to the coast, the flat terrain was punctuated with limestone hills.

As we lunched aboard our boat, it chugged amongst the small, limestone islands of the bay that rise vertically from the sea in interesting shapes and sizes. After lunch there were small boat rides around islands and through a couple of caves. A few more adventurous of us kayaked instead. With warm water and clouds that stopped temperatures from getting too hot, it was a perfect way to spend an hour or so. We then had an opportunity to swim before getting ready for dinner. On deck afterwards it was calm and pleasantly warm. Lying on the top deck on sun loungers, however, watching starlight come and go as light clouds rolled across the sky, we found ourselves drifting off and so went to bed.



We began the sunny and correspondingly hotter morning with Thai Chi where we discovered that a youngish couple from Birmingham had got engaged after dinner the previous evening. After breakfast, we visited Hang Sung Sot or Surprise Cave - a massive limestone cave with interesting formations. Back on board we returned to a shady spot on the upper deck and wished we had another day or two on board to take in the lovely scenery. However we'd been lucky with the weather, which is very unpredictable in these bays at any time of the year.

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Photos

Ha Long Bay
Happy to be away from the motorcycles

Ha Long Bay
Over 3000 islands in total

Hang Sung Sot
Massive cave was a real surprise.

Ha Long Bay
In the high season there are many more boats.

Comments

[Judy Blagden]

Your two blogs bought back many memories of Vietnam. We felt Hanoi was our favourite City and wished we had been able to spend a day or two longer. I will be interested to hear what your thoughts are when you finish Vietnam. Glad yu had good weather in Halong Bay - a wonderful place but will be ruined I think once the airport has been built!!!