Halong Bay… I’m sure you guys have all seen pictures of Vietnam’s famous “dragon descending bay.” Gorgeous Hạ Long Bay includes more than 1,960 islands and islets of which most were formed in prehistoric times, tens of thousands of years ago from dramatic limestone karst!
Apparently, under the impact of the tropical wet climate, the development of karsts in Hạ Long bay has taken some 20 million years. It’s a stunning region but depending on the season, it can be bitterly cold and wet. The day-tour of Hạ Long Bay was filled with much rain and a biting freezing wind but it was still amazing to see this region!
Despite the rain and mist, we ended up having a great time.
After a 4.5 hour bus ride from Hanoi, we made it to the bay. The bay was filled with hundreds of little ships waiting to take their passengers to the famous dragon descending cliffs. We boarded a life boat that took us to our little ship.
The ship was rather old, but that just added to the experience! We loved having windows that opened to the sea… If the weather had been bright and sunny, I’m sure we both would have jumped out our windows for a little swim every now and then. After traveling in our ship for about an hour, we were surrounded by the beautiful cliffs. These little brightly colored houses are homes to the sea villagers. Can you imagine living on the water like this? Our fist stop on the cruise was exploring some of the caves of Halong Bay. The view from the exit of the cave was breath taking. Our guide told us that on a clear day, you can see the mainland.
Next on the itinerary was a stop at one of the islands. Activities on this island include swimming and hiking. Since it was pretty chilly out, most people chose the latter activity. Along the hike to the top of the island, there were some cute monkeys in a cage. The hike was short, but rather treacherous due to the steep and muddy trail. As we were resting in our room before dinner, we saw a woman in a boat waiting outside our window. My first thought was to close the curtains, but Jared was rather excited about buying from a boat-vendor through our cabin window. Besides, how many times can you say you’ve done that?
Bye bye lady, thank you for the cheap snacks! That evening, we joined in a small Vietnamese cooking class where we learned how to make fried spring rolls. The dinner was very good. I was especially impressed by the carved carrot flowers.
Jared got to try his hand at squid fishing that evening!
The next day we packed our bags and headed back to Hanoi to catch our night-bus to Sapa. Stay tuned for our next post about the trekking we did through the beautiful rice terraces of Sapa. Trekking in Sapa, Vietnam
