12 August 2014

Ha Long, Vietnam

Cruising around Halong Bay has been a long time dream, especially since it features on the list of UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites (as well as a good couple of enormous billboards around Vietnam, claiming it to be in the new top 7 natural wonders of the world).

THE EMERALD BAY

The 1,600+ islands and islets (or ‘around 2,000’ as our guide continually emphasised) makes for an idyllic paradise of smooth green water pierced by the white, orange and black patterns of thousands of limestone cliffs. Dark green vegetation covers the rocky outcrops that, on a sunny day, seem to reach up to the blue sky to touch its wispy white clouds.  The overcast days are sombre but beautiful, as the clouds cover the sun to bring out the emerald shimmer in the bay and occasional rain bursts provide welcome respite from the tropical heat.

SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME

The tour took us to only a small part of Halong Bay, but it was truly spectacular. The black and white patterned faces of the limestone cliffs look down on the junk boats that meander through the islets, like guardians of some long lost world. Lying on sun loungers and looking out at the bay was a favourite afternoon pastime, as well as a good excuse for a pre-dinner nap after busy days of fun activities and interesting sight-seeing.

The list of favourite memories from this trip includes:

• Visiting the ’Surprising Cave’, like going down in to the Mines of Moria, a balrog surely hidden in its depths.
• A morning spent kayaking through some of the islets, through caves, hidden bays and rocky outcrops; with us South Africans showing the other tourists how kayak polo with a floating Frisbee can keep you fully entertained even in the remotest parts of Ha long Bay.
• Sun-tanning on the deck enjoying a cold beer and good company.
• Being rocked to sleep by the gentle motion of the junk boat in the designated ‘sleeping bay’ while the aircon drowns out unwanted noise from the outside world.
• Being woken up for breakfast by Tony with his signature ‘cocka-doodle-doo’ Vietnamese style and ‘Goo Moooorliiiing’ outside our door.

BOOKING THE TOUR

We booked a tour through our hotel in Hanoi (after speaking to a couple more agents just to be sure) and happily ended up on a private cruise (there were 11 friends in our group) with ‘Elizabeth Cruises’, on one of the smaller junks ‘Hai Au’, with a guide named Tony Nguyen.  There were 7 rooms on the junk, all with en suite bathrooms.  We stayed 3 days, 2 nights (both nights on the boat) and were more than satisfied with our tour itinerary.

It cost us around $190 and included aircon rooms (evenings only), three meals a day, tour guide, kayaks, entrance to Surprising cave and the Pearl Farm, warm (‘hot’) showers, sundeck with sun loungers and the return van transfer (16-seater, aircon) between Hanoi and Halong Bay.

TIP: Make sure you are clear about the ‘own food/own drinks’ rules for your tour. Our hotel agent told us it was fine to take our own drinks (water, juice, beer, wine) but when we arrived (with the drinks) the tour company protested and there was a lot of unnecessary animosity at the beginning of our tour. This was resolved quickly, but it would have been great if we had not had to deal with this in the first place.

PEARLY WHITE

One more thing to mention was the Halong Bay Pearl Farm. It was so interesting seeing the different kinds of oysters used to create a plethora of pearls in all colours and sizes. There were oysters hanging from strings in the water and the assistants showed us how they ‘implant’ the mother-of-pearl grain in to the oysters to start the process. There were pearls that took between 1 and 8 years to fully mature and when you realise the monetary worth of the end product, it was easy to see how much care needs to be taken at getting this process right. The price of the highest valued pearl for sale at this farm hurt my eyes (brain?); it may as well have been worth a million rand.

TIP: Husbands and boyfriends, visit this place with your better half and a credit card. It will be the most romantic gift you give her from Vietnam. There are some beautiful pieces on sale here.

FOR THE MORE ADVENTUROUS

Talking to a couple of people along the way, we discovered that it is possible to go to Halong Bay on your own if you have a motorbike (and nerves of steel!) or even by catching a van or bus to Hai Phong. From there you can take a ferry across to Cat Ba island (there are resorts and a beautiful beach on the one side of the island).  Or you can hire a boat to take you around the bay. We were warned that if we attempted this, however, there are real dangers of encountering illegal boat operators, scams and other less than savoury experiences.   We wouldn’t have had enough time to attempt this trip on our own, but it would be an adventure well off the beaten tourist track though!