Halong Bay is an essential stop in Vietnam. Thousands of famous islands rise and tower from the water in all manner of beautiful shapes. Viewing some of these islands was to be a highlight for us in Vietnam.
Contrary to the normal state of things, I arose very early to experience the cruise ship sailing into the bay. It was slightly hazy but very lovely to watch the light change as the sun rose from mum and Brew’s balcony. The shapes of the island formations are so beautiful. And so plentiful. Really the pictures tell only some of the story.... Endless interestingly shaped tall, thin mounds rising from the sea enrobed in green vegetation. It was more difficult to see the vegetation in the half light but the shapes themselves were beautiful. I’m glad both the captain and the tour director had encouraged us to rise early to see them.
We took an afternoon tour (to miss the potential fog, none of which was in sight). The tour began with a bus trip, a bus trip when we were already in the bay..... the bus drove us along the 1.5 km jetty, then turned and drove us half way back so we were facing the correct way to drop us, only 800m from where we started, at that part of the jetty where we were embarking on our tour.
The time taken to board and get off the bus was excruciating. This arrangement seemed to reflect the average age of the participants and their lack of physical agility. Tough for us but not for those who really needed the assistance.
Once on the boat we finally got under way. We were aboard a two star boat which chugged off slowly towards the islands. I’m not exactly sure what a one star boat would be as this one was falling apart, (perhaps the one we saw in Da Nang harbour?). The outdoor railings were consumed by dry rot, I would not have liked to actually lean on them. Metal ropes were rusting and in contrast to America there were no notices warning one that there was no barrier between you and the water in front of the boat and to exercise caution. Luckily no one fell off. Amazing that most people do have common sense and do not need such signs as we saw so frequently in America warning against obvious stupidity.
Our tour guide had a strong accent but told us of the fishermen of the bay and a bit of the history. Seems the fishermen who used to work in the bay produced too much waste and were taken care of well before being finally moved into the town into houses others could only wish to afford. However they no longer had jobs and many retrained as coal miners among other things. We learned of two children policies in the past in Vietnam and their impacts I was not aware of this having only been familiar with the one child policies of China.
Finally we reached the islands themselves. There are some 2000 islands and one even appears on the Vietnamese 100,000 dong note. We saw only a small fraction. They are beautiful. And very very numerous. You float by tall, shapely rock after rock. I shouldn’t really describe them as rocks because they have so much vegetation on them. They are steep and it is lovely to be surrounded by them. I liked how you could see the rock between the vegetation. Some of the islands have caves in them, used by the Vietnamese as hospitals and hiding places during the war.
At first I took heaps of photos, everywhere I looked there was a new shape, different outlook, lovely trick of the light, sea bird or other attraction. But after about an hour I stopped and just enjoyed. I’m not sure there was any other time I felt quite so relaxed as the second half of the cruise in among the islands. The wash of Dutch voices from other cruise guests and swill of water sounds was quite mesmerising. I sat for a long time on the front with nothing but an old tire and a bit of splintered wood between me and the water.
We saw a number of birds but we were not able to capture any on film.
It is lovely that the boats can travel so easily among the islands. Apparently there are six approved routes boats can take round them to reduce congestion and make the tourist experience even better. It is clear that the government has taken regulation of the area seriously, regulating boat routes, where one can stop (for cave adventures or kayaking) and removing pollution creators such as the fishermen villages which used to float among the islands housing thousands of people (and their refuse). Fishing itself is regulated I believe. There are however still barges transporting coal and the odd what looked like oil drilling operations (seems that money making is important after all).
The Vietnamese have certainly conspired to preserve Halong bay as a magical place. Relaxing and haunting at the same time. It will certainly live in my memory as a wonderful stopping place and I would recommend it to anyone who is considering travelling to Vietnam.
Contrary to the normal state of things, I arose very early to experience the cruise ship sailing into the bay. It was slightly hazy but very lovely to watch the light change as the sun rose from mum and Brew’s balcony. The shapes of the island formations are so beautiful. And so plentiful. Really the pictures tell only some of the story.... Endless interestingly shaped tall, thin mounds rising from the sea enrobed in green vegetation. It was more difficult to see the vegetation in the half light but the shapes themselves were beautiful. I’m glad both the captain and the tour director had encouraged us to rise early to see them.
We took an afternoon tour (to miss the potential fog, none of which was in sight). The tour began with a bus trip, a bus trip when we were already in the bay..... the bus drove us along the 1.5 km jetty, then turned and drove us half way back so we were facing the correct way to drop us, only 800m from where we started, at that part of the jetty where we were embarking on our tour.
The time taken to board and get off the bus was excruciating. This arrangement seemed to reflect the average age of the participants and their lack of physical agility. Tough for us but not for those who really needed the assistance.
Once on the boat we finally got under way. We were aboard a two star boat which chugged off slowly towards the islands. I’m not exactly sure what a one star boat would be as this one was falling apart, (perhaps the one we saw in Da Nang harbour?). The outdoor railings were consumed by dry rot, I would not have liked to actually lean on them. Metal ropes were rusting and in contrast to America there were no notices warning one that there was no barrier between you and the water in front of the boat and to exercise caution. Luckily no one fell off. Amazing that most people do have common sense and do not need such signs as we saw so frequently in America warning against obvious stupidity.
Our tour guide had a strong accent but told us of the fishermen of the bay and a bit of the history. Seems the fishermen who used to work in the bay produced too much waste and were taken care of well before being finally moved into the town into houses others could only wish to afford. However they no longer had jobs and many retrained as coal miners among other things. We learned of two children policies in the past in Vietnam and their impacts I was not aware of this having only been familiar with the one child policies of China.
Finally we reached the islands themselves. There are some 2000 islands and one even appears on the Vietnamese 100,000 dong note. We saw only a small fraction. They are beautiful. And very very numerous. You float by tall, shapely rock after rock. I shouldn’t really describe them as rocks because they have so much vegetation on them. They are steep and it is lovely to be surrounded by them. I liked how you could see the rock between the vegetation. Some of the islands have caves in them, used by the Vietnamese as hospitals and hiding places during the war.
At first I took heaps of photos, everywhere I looked there was a new shape, different outlook, lovely trick of the light, sea bird or other attraction. But after about an hour I stopped and just enjoyed. I’m not sure there was any other time I felt quite so relaxed as the second half of the cruise in among the islands. The wash of Dutch voices from other cruise guests and swill of water sounds was quite mesmerising. I sat for a long time on the front with nothing but an old tire and a bit of splintered wood between me and the water.
We saw a number of birds but we were not able to capture any on film.
It is lovely that the boats can travel so easily among the islands. Apparently there are six approved routes boats can take round them to reduce congestion and make the tourist experience even better. It is clear that the government has taken regulation of the area seriously, regulating boat routes, where one can stop (for cave adventures or kayaking) and removing pollution creators such as the fishermen villages which used to float among the islands housing thousands of people (and their refuse). Fishing itself is regulated I believe. There are however still barges transporting coal and the odd what looked like oil drilling operations (seems that money making is important after all).
The Vietnamese have certainly conspired to preserve Halong bay as a magical place. Relaxing and haunting at the same time. It will certainly live in my memory as a wonderful stopping place and I would recommend it to anyone who is considering travelling to Vietnam.
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