March 31, 2011 Hanoi, Vietnam
Hi all,
On March 26-28, I took a tour of Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a large bay 70 km south east of Hanoi in the north part of the Gulf of Tonkin. You start the boat tours in Halong Bay city, which is about a 4 hour bus ride south east of Hanoi.
What is nice is the bus picks you up at your hotel, although the bus must weave in and out of the narrow streets of Hanoi with high traffic. The "guide" onboard assists you in finding your boat when you arrive at the dock. Also he becomes your guide on board the boat, this is a great system as it avoids a madhouse of tourists trying to find their respective boats. The group on the bus is generally the group on your boat, so you get a chance to get acquainted on the bus ride south. The bus makes a rest stop along the way where, of course, you find a huge souvenir shop ready to take your money.
Halong Bay is a large bay with about 1500 picturesque, yet bazaar karst pinnicle peaks. These peaks were all formed from a limestone layer of sediment at the bottom of the ocean millions of years ago. Techtonic plate activity caused this layer to rise up vertically creating the tall peaks you see today. Available, but not all cruising, are some 2000 Chinese junk design boats outfitted to cruise the tourists to predesignated points in the bay. The boats are quite nice, they are outfitted with kitchen, nice dining area, staterooms and great viewing areas aboard.
The day the trip started it was cool and rainy, but the next day the weather was wonderful with even some broken clouds and sun. Lucked out, it was rainy and foggy a few days ago.
The boat stopped in many hidden bays, allowing passengers to kayak among the peaks. We visited a floating village where the whole village lived aboard floating houses, complete with pet dogs and a school, in the shelter of the peaks. Also included was a stop at an amazing cave, that we got a chance to hike through.
Halong bay is also a World Heritage site, protected from harm or commercialization by this UNESCO designation.
Most visits are 2 days and one night aboard ship, with all the meals included.
I met some great people on board from all over the world. Laura and Jerry, Brits who were on a 10 month backpacking trip around the world, Yugo and Tatiyana from Moscow, Mike from Chicago, Kevin, Christine and Megan, a family from Vancouver, all fun people.
Hope these pictures help show you what an incredible place this is.
From here, on to Sapa, a small village way up in northern Vietnam, where there is an opportunity to visit small villages of hill tribes, all with their own unique style and language. Looking forward to that.
- Bill
