Halong Bay is a set of over 1000 islands off the coast of
Vietnam almost directly east of
Hanoi, built up from the same Karst rock formations that we saw in Krabi. They’re really stunning, rising straight out of the ocean for a hundred or more feet. Some of them are simply Karst pillars on their own, while others have other soil and rock alongside, becoming full islands. It’s considered
Vietnam’s greatest natural resource and is in the running as one of the seven natural wonders of the world (and you’re reminded to
vote quite frequently!).
We took a 2 day, 1 night cruise through the islands in order to properly appreciate sunset and sunrise amongst the islands, considered the best time to see them. It turns out there are easily a hundred different tour operators offering junk trips out into the bay, each running almost exactly the same route, differentiated mostly by the quality of the food served on board and the service you receive. It’s something of a shock to be leaving the harbor on your cruise and seeing 30 other junks leaving at the same time, going to the same place – you lose something of the sense of serenity and calm that the bay is supposed to be known for.
Once you’re out into the bay, the junks spread out a bit and you’re able to appreciate the scenery better. I’m calling the boats junks, since that’s what the tour operators call them, but their masts are for show only, everyone runs on motor power all the time. We were fed lunch shortly after getting onto the boat, and what a lunch it was. Shrimp, squid, crab, fish, several vegetables, soup, and several other dishes I’ve forgotten. We were seated with a couple women named Mary and Anne who were very nice and we had a great conversation, albeit frequently interrupted by oooohs and aaaahs and “I’ll be right back, I’ve got to go look at that!” They were kind enough to send us some of their pictures from the cruise, which have been useful in reminding us that all those impossible visions in our memories are actually accurate!
We stopped at a variety of locations during the cruise out and back, including time to visit a large natural cave in one of the islands (with an amazingly smooth roof, resembling a set of sandy dunes), and an island that we could hike to the top of. The highlight for me was a natural lagoon with a single opening to the sea through a tunnel in the rock. We took a boat through the tunnel and emerged into 200 meter diameter pool with high rock cliffs on all sides – it’s the kind of place that every pirate must have dreamed of finding! We also sailed past several floating villages, where many of the residents spend most of their lives on boats, making a living fishing and selling supplies to the passing tour boats.
Overall we had a wonderful time, with one glaring exception. Our cabin on the boat turned out to be infested with dozens of cockroaches, forcing a midnight exodus into a new cabin!
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