Vietnam 2006 Part 3 : Cruising on Ha Long Bay

Day 3(Mon) : Ha Long Bay

To the Bay
Rise and shine at 7:30am. We were going to the bay today.

Our pick up arrived at the hotel at about 8:30am. We joined a group of 10 other tourists in the van. The tour guide soon introduced himself in halting English and gave us a briefing on today’s plan. He had probably memorized a script as he rattled off the English-sounding syllables in long continuous strings. We tried hard to piece them together into comprehensible and meaningful speech.

The journey to Ha Long city took 3 hours, stopping only for a 20 minute break in between. We finally arrived at the jetty before noon. The place was thronging with groups of mainly foreign tourists and each led by a local tour guide. Everybody was soon herded towards their respective boats.

Our boat, like many others docked at the jetty, had three levels. The lower level was where the bunks were located. The middle level housed the dining area. The top deck was an open air viewing area with deck chairs and was a great place to sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Bay Watch
After a sumptuous lunch, the boat headed out towards sea. We promptly positioned ourselves at the top deck to take in the sight of the bay, with cameras ready for action. It was a rare sunny afternoon and we had the wind blowing into our faces as the boat gathered speed.

We were not disappointed. We were soon surrounded by giant limestone hills rising from the sea, rocks that were outlined with steep walls, sheer cliffs and sparse vegetation.

Here are some photos to enjoy …

As part of the tour, we made two stops. One was the Cave of Surprises that housed three distinct chambers, filled with stalagmites and large rocks. The chambers were lighted up with ghastly fluorescent spotlights that made the scenery a little unreal.

The next stop was Ti Top Island (named after the Soviet Union astronaut and hero, Ghermann Ti Top). The highlight here was the viewing area at the top of the hill that overlooked the bay. Good for taking pictures of the bay. After climbing down the few hundred steps, we got to do a bit of kayaking at the beach. There was slight difficulty in directing the kayak, but we were rewarded with a wonderful time in the pristine emerald waters.

Moonlight Bay
That night, we spent a night on the bay. Our boat, like many others, found a place to ‘park’ in the waters. It was like a big parking lot for boats; there was even a ‘P’ sign on a nearby islet. We were served dinner and spent the next few hours playing ‘Hearts’. Outside the waters were dead calm, the air cool, and the surroundings pitch black save for lights from the other boats parked close by.

I had a good sleep that night.