Day 10 - Halong Bay

14th March 2011
Halong Bay is perhaps one of the most famous and popular tourist areas of Vietnam. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Halong Bay has more than 3,000 limestone karts stone islands scattered across it. Most rise sharply out of the bay and are uninhabited. Lonely Planet describes it as "Majestic and mysterious, inspiring and imperious, words alone cannot do justice to the natural wonder that is Halong Bay".

Having read articles, guidebooks and also people raving on about it, I decided to booked a 3 day 2 nights cruise on Halong Bay with a company called Kangaroo Café which cost $120. On the day of the tour, it was grey and overcast. The tour bus came to pick everyone up at the front of the café and then it was a 3.5 hours drive east of the city.

Most of the drive there was pretty uneventful. However about 10 minutes until arrival, our tour guide got up from his seat and announce to the group that there was bad news. Our three day tour would be cancelled. Vietnamese authorities decided to close the bay tomorrow due to bad weather. He then said we had a choice of either turning around and heading back to Hanoi and get a full refund or do a day trip of Halong Bay and get a partial refund. It was an easy choice to make and the whole group decided to continue on.

We pull into the harbour of Halong Bay and walk down a long dock to the small shuttle boats that will ferry us out to our ship- the Bai Tu Long Junk. Just like most of the ships in the bay, it was styled as a traditional wooden junk. It was decent but nothing special. We were greeted with welcome drinks and soon after had a five course lunch.

After lunch, everyone on the tour group hung around the top deck to view the scenery. I chatted to some of the other guests including 3 Americans and 2 Australian couples. There were all very nice and friendly. Pretty soon we began to see some of the thousands of little islands Halong Bay is famous for and they really were gorgeous. The only thing I would have liked more was some sun. It's a pity for such a spectacular place in the world.

Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves and we were cruising out to one of these limestone caverns in the bay called Dong Thien Cung. On the docking area, there were Vietnamese workers doing construction work but it kind of looked like they drilling for oil. I noticed the beaches and water surrounding the island was pretty dirty. I guess the Vietnamese aren't really into environmentalism.

The entrance of the cave requires a short hike up several flights of stone steps high above the bay. To make it more majestic (and more appealing for tourists), they lit up the cave with blue, green, and pink hues, bringing attention to various stalactite and stalagmite formations within the cave. But in my opinion it looks tacky and not exactly natural looking. And for some reason, they decided to put little penguin rubbish bins around the caves. That along with the colourful lights made me felt like I was in Disneyland instead of in a world heritage area. The cave was also full of tourist because our tour guide told us it was the only cave opened that day and every other places and activities was closed. So I didn’t get to do things like kayaking and rock climbing or visit floating village and hike on one of the island. It was a bit disappointing.

We headed back to the Junk and just sat on the deck chair and admired the numerous little bulbous islands covered in plants and trees, dotting the horizon. The sky had been overcast and as evening approached, instead of a sunset, the fog rose and a damp chill surrounded us. Soon there were fog everywhere and we all watched as the limestone islands surrounding us disappear within the fog. It was very surreal and mystical. And before we know it, our trip was over. It went by really fast (total about 4 hours). I think the drive there was almost as long as the trip itself!

Without a doubt, Halong Bay is a place of outstanding natural beauty. But because of the bad weather and cancellation it did make the trip less enjoyable. I really thought Halong Bay would be the highlight of the trip but this was not the case. The cancellation of the trip left me with a few options. Where should I go? What should I do? Ninh Binh (Halong Bay on land) or Hoi An (another World Heritage Area)? Or fly back down south to Phu Quoc Island (tropical island with unspoilt beaches) or Saigon? Find out on my next blog entry!