Halong Bay

Halong Bay - Meaning “Bay of the descending dragon” in Vietnamese.

A beautiful and spectacular bay of over 3000 islands – set amongst the green waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Such an amazing sight it was World Heritage listed in 1994.

Enjoying the views of Halong Bay from our cruise boat "Poseidon"

It’s a good 3.5-4 hour drive by minibus from Hanoi to get there, which is a very slow and bumpy ride, as the distance you are travelling is only actually 175km! The bus’s vary depending on what tour company you are on, and some are fancier than others – as long as you have air conditioning, it’s definitely worth the trip!

We did an overnight tour of Halong Bay on the “Poseidon” ($85 USD per person). You can do longer trips, or even just day trips, but I think a 1 night stay is long enough. Once we finally got off the bus, we boarded a tender, which took us out to the actual boat we were cruising on, as it is too big to come into the actual docking harbor. From there, we were on our way and set sail. We checked into our cute little deluxe room on the top floor. It was small (as to be expected on a boat) but very nice! Everything was clean and tidy, and our own ensuite with toilet and shower. We even had a TV and DVD player to watch movies at night if you wanted (only we didn’t have any DVD’s L, and didn’t really fancy watching any Vietnamese ones!)

Dave in our deluxe room on the boat

A seafood lunch was then served, which was mostly enjoyed by everyone (except for non sea food eaters like me-PW, there was not many choices., so that was a bit of a shame. I’ve never had so much tofu in all my life as I have in the last few days, as they eat mostly pork and seafood in Vietnam).

After lunch we boarded another tender boat to  visit “the amazing cave” as our tour guide called it (he wasn’t very informative in terms of actual facts –  his most important fact on the cave, as stated by him “A ladies best dream” is what he /the locals call a large rounded stalactite… that was sprouting from the side of the cave wall?!). I have found out since, the cave is actually called the Wooden Stakes Cave. Although the French tourists that first discovered the cave in the 19^th century called it ‘Grotte des Merveilles’. It’s a HUGE cave, with 3 main chambers. It’s still quite impressive, even though it hasn’t been very well preserved, allowing visitors to pretty much do as they like when visiting – so where everyone has touched the walls, it is all black, and has lost any of the crystal like sheer appearance.

From inside the cave looking out to the entry

Our silhouettes in the amazing cave 

From there we went to the nearby remains of an old dock, (it had more missing planks, than actual wooden planks) which actually doubled as a family of 4+ adults, and 2 small children under the age of 3. The smallest baby was learning to walk/stand in a baby walker on this magnificent dock with no edges…I guess they learn to swim at the same time they’re learning to walk? It was quite a sight to see. Anyhow, we were on this dock as we were using the kayaks which was the family business. Marveling at the state of the dock, and their way of life was just an extra side bonus. We kayaked for about 30 mins, around a few of the different islands, and through a little tunnel cave on one of the small islands. It was so hot, and  very tempting to just jump in and have a swim to cool off, but being so close to the caves, many of the boats dock here, and the water was covered in a thick coating of oil, and not to mention we also saw quite a few BIG jellyfish, so we decided staying hot was a better option?! (the jellyfish are only there part of the year though, and you can escape the oil in the water out in the rest of the bay where not so many boats accumulate.)

Kayaking in Halong Bay

Back onto the Poseidon, we cruised through the little islands into the sunset! Such a beautiful, relaxing and peaceful part of visiting the bay. This was our favorite part, just to cruise and relax and take in the sights. As things get a bit too hectic in the caves and kayaking, as there are just so many junk boats, and so many other tourists! After docking close to Cat Ba island, dinner was served. Very similar to lunch – OK if you liked seafood.

After dinner, there was fishing with a bamboo stick traditional Vietnamese style ( no reel, or length of fishing line, you just had to dangle the bait of the end, and hope for the best that it stays on the line while you fling it into the boat) OR you could also enjoy some Karaoke singing. We decided for neither, and went to watch a movie on our laptop in the room. After being active in the hot sun 40+ heat all day, we were more than happy to get to bed.

On the top deck enjoying the sunset

Sunset over Halong Bay

Breakfast was served at 7.10am sharp, despite no one actually getting there to eat it until 7.15 and onwards, so if you like your fried eggs hot – you better get there on time!

There were no act ivies or cruising on the last morning, just sun baking on the rooftop sun beds. We stayed docked until about 11, which was a little disappointing, as we would have preferred to go and visit one of the beaches, but we had to wait to pick up guests staying on Cat Ba island. After they boarded, we were off and sailing again, and quick lunch was served at 11.30am, and we were onto the tender by 12.15 and on the mini bus by 12.20 for a LONG slow and bumpy ride home.

Even with the tedious bus trip, it was still a great sight worth seeing. Just spectacular. However, if there is anyone out there looking for a business venture  - a helicopter or seaplane transfer/scenic flight from Hanoi to Halong Bay would certainly be popular and in demand!

All our pics from Halong Bay can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/117257906652666550268/HalongBay?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Cheers for Now - 

Pamela and Dave