Vietnam - Part III: Halong Bay

After Sapa we were on our way to spend one night and two days on a junk (boat) in the very picturesque Halong Bay.  The port is in Ha Long City, 168 kms from Hanoi which we were told was a 4 1/2 hour drive away.   Hold on, 168 kms, a FOUR-and-a-half hour drive away? 

Yes-sir-eee! 4 1/2 hours of overtaking hundreds of buses, trucks, motorcycles, cars, water buffalo and cows.  And not that cautious kind of overtaking, I mean that, ' holy *&%, is he really going to pass that bus now??/ That's a BIG truck coming at us in our lane!!' kind of overtaking.  For 4 1/2 hours.

Serenity now!  At noon we arrived in Halong City.  We were introduced to our lovely and very amusing tour guide, Quyat, and boarded out beautiful junk (with 14 others), the Dragon Pearl II.  Our wooden ship then left to set sail into Halong Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site dotted with 1,950 limestone islets.

We started off with a watermelon drink and a beautiful seafood lunch.  We made our first stop at a small beach on a small island where a cave, some kayaks and a beautiful beach awaited.  The water was crystal clear and 28 degrees - ocean swimming couldn't get much better than that!

After our afternoon activities we had some time to rest and relax as our boat sailed during sunset.  This was followed up by another delicious meal and a much needed sleep. 

Day two started at 7am with breakfast and then a visit to a local floating fishing village.  We were all picked up in smaller boats and taken over.  The locals make their livings by fishing and culturing pearls (which they also sell to tourists).  Boats from the mainland come over each day to pick up and sell their daily catch and the children even have a classroom in the village where teachers volunteer.  I couldn't imagine living on the sea day-in and day-out, however I'm sure the people we met in the village couldn't imagine sitting at a computer and a desk for 8 hours a day either!

After a 2nd dive into the ocean, from the deck of the boat this time, we disappointingly headed back to the port.  Our tour ended at noon.  As we really only spent 24 hours on the junk, I would certainly recommend to anyone going to Halong Bay to stay 3 days, 2 nights - the tour was glorious and we didn't want to leave, BUT, back to Hanoi on the shuttle we went....