Ha Long Bay
Publié: 24.03.2018
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[by Jonas] Our trip to Ha Long Bay started early in the morning with an alarm clock ringing. But when we got ready and had breakfast, it was almost forgotten and we just waited a few more minutes until our tour guide Binh came through the hotel door and took us to the bus after a short introduction. It was a small, fancy bus with comfortable seats. Not many people were sitting in it yet, so we drove to a few more hotels and the agency's office to pick up the other participants of the tour. We quickly realized that we were the youngest by far. Most of the others were in their late 20s to late 30s. The group was also diverse in terms of nationalities, with couples from America, England, Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as a young doctor from Singapore. There was also another German couple, so we represented the most dominant nationality. But that didn't really matter, as English was mostly spoken throughout the trip and everyone understood each other from the beginning. This beginning is marked by a short introduction round in the bus, during which we also noticed that we were the only backpackers. Everyone else was already working and only spending a few well-planned weeks here in Vietnam. After this introduction round, our tour guide Binh told us a lot about the culture and the country of Vietnam, accompanied by many jokes, so the ice was quickly broken and we all laughed together.
After a 3.5-hour drive, including a short break, we caught sight of the rock landscape in the distance. Binh told us that it was Ha Long Bay and we were already fascinated. It didn't take long until we had driven through a large part of the harbor to our boat and after getting off, we had to wait a few more minutes. Then we took a small dinghy to our ship. We gathered on the middle deck, where the "dining room" was. We were given a small introduction to the boat, the crew, and the day's program, and then Binh handed out the room keys and we could go downstairs to our room. The room, like the entire boat, was nicely decorated. It wasn't that small and we had a window with a sea view.
Our ship
Our room on the ship
While we were settling downstairs, lunch was already being prepared upstairs. It was served when we left the harbor and sailed past Ha Long Bay towards Bai Tu Long Bay, a slightly more remote bay that is less touristy. For lunch, we were seated at tables for 4 and a small buffet was set up on each table, offering something for everyone. From various seafood and animals to different types of meat and sweetened fries. Everyone could eat their fill, even me! We could already enjoy a great view, but we also realized how crowded Ha Long Bay is. The landscape was hardly enjoyable because there were numerous boats everywhere, especially at the entrances to the bay. However, our tour managed to avoid most of this tourism and we sailed into the aforementioned Bai Tu Long Bay. It consists of the same gigantic rocks that rise dozens of meters out of the water. After lunch, we had some time to admire this scenery from the sun deck.
Arriving at our destination, we had to get back on the dinghy that we had been towing the whole time and with it, we went to a smaller floating dock, where we received kayaks. So the first real activity was about to begin. Each couple got a kayak, 2 paddles, and life jackets, and off we went. We followed our tour guide in a group along the giant rocks. Especially now, when we passed these huge rocks in this tiny kayak, it became clear how enormous and impressive they really are. We had seen them in so many photos, but driving past them was indescribable!
We steered towards one of these rocks. It had a small beach where we could park our kayaks. Then we continued on foot: through a cave into the rock. It wasn't particularly large, and after a few steps, we saw a light at the end of the tunnel. It was slightly elevated, and when we reached it, Binh said, "A lake in a mountain in the sea." We were treated to the sight of a lagoon with almost transparent, turquoise water in the midst of the mountain. But we had little time to admire it, as our tour guide quickly asked who would be willing to embark on an adventure, and we started climbing along the edge of the lagoon to another cave. The path was a true adventure, as the stones we climbed past and over were sometimes razor-sharp, but we all managed it. We were rewarded with another cave. This one was dark, and those who had their phones with them turned on their flashlights. In this cave, there were many stalagmites and stalactites that glittered when illuminated. But that wasn't the only special thing about these stalactites. When you tapped them lightly, they made sounds. Each stalactite produced a different sound, and so we started creating some music on these glittering rocks. From this cave, we had another view of the lagoon and other hills in the distance.
Then we paddled a bit further, but eventually turned back because the waves were getting rougher. We then approached another cave with the dinghy. Unfortunately, it wasn't as interesting, and we had also had enough of caves, so we returned to the ship. After that, we had dinner. I don't remember exactly what it was, but there was at least as much food as at lunch, and it was delicious. By now, a really nice group dynamic had developed, everyone could participate in any conversation, and there was a lot of laughter together. While we were eating, the sun slowly set behind the rocks.
In the evening, our tour guide asked who would be interested in squid fishing. I'm not exactly sure what I imagined, but the fishing itself was incredibly boring. Nevertheless, it was a nice evening because we had enough time to get to know each other better during this activity. When we had eventually moved from vacations to politics to the existence of aliens in our conversation, we decided to go to bed as we had to get up very early the next day since breakfast was already scheduled for 6:45 am and we had to have everything packed by then.
It was my first night on a boat, and it was very pleasant. But the alarm clock ringing the next morning woke both of us up. At that time, we still didn't quite understand why we had to get up so early on this day, thinking, "We have the whole day in Ha Long Bay!" But in hindsight, we understood it, and looking back, we believe it was absolutely worth getting up so early. After a quick breakfast, we took the dinghy to the most beautiful but also the most famous cave in Ha Long Bay, the "surprising cave". When we arrived, there was only one other small boat at the dock, also from our travel agency, Vega Travel. Consequently, the cave was not crowded at all. It was incredibly beautiful. The huge cavity in the mountain was adorned with countless stalactites and fallen rocks. A path built by humans led through the cave, and at every corner, Binh told us something about the cave itself or pointed to a rock formation and humorously explained what it could resemble with great imagination. At the end of the cave, stairs led up to a small observation platform overlooking the bay in front of the cave. Even from the stairs, you could see that numerous other dinghies had now arrived at the dock, carrying masses of tourists into the cave. At that moment, we were grateful for getting up so early, as we suspect that we could only truly experience the true beauty of the cave only by doing so, and that it wouldn't have been half as beautiful with hundreds of tourists squeezing their way through the path.
Going down was easy, and we were back in the village and rode back to the jetty. The crew had prepared lunch for us on the boat, and when we arrived, we were all so hungry that nobody could think of anything else. Even though it was only halfway through the day, we had done so much that it felt like nap time after lunch. But when we finished eating, we had some time to rest on the sun deck of the ship. The weather was particularly good that day. The sky was cloudless, and the view of the limestone rocks was fantastic. I installed my GoPro on the ship and filmed this timelapse (just click on it to watch the video) of the breathtaking landscape!
When we arrived back at the ship, we sailed a few meters further away from the jetty and anchored. Now it was time to go swimming. Many people chose to relax on the sun deck and enjoy the sun, but I couldn't miss the opportunity to jump into the water from the boat and admire the view from the water.
But after a while, especially in the fresh air, it got a bit cold, and we dried off and changed our clothes. The ship took us to the port of Cat Ba, the largest island in Ha Long Bay with an area of 354 square kilometers, where we boarded a bus that took us to our hotel for the night within 5 minutes. It was located in a bay where various ships and floating houses were docked, some of which were even restaurants. From our room on the 6th floor, we had a wonderful view of both the bay and the small town, as well as the sunset over the bay. I lack the words to describe it!
The next day was mainly about the return trip to our original ship, which took us back to the harbor through the center of Ha Long Bay while we had lunch. I say mainly because just this ride alone is an experience in itself, as incredible views of the limestone cliffs constantly present themselves, views that you don't get used to even after 3 days.
Back in the bus, it took us another 3.5 hours to get back to our hotels in Hanoi. We said goodbye and thanked our tour guide and checked in again for one more night at our hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.
Today, the next day, we strolled through the city a bit and did some shopping. Tonight, our night bus will take us about 600km further south to Hue, the old imperial city of Vietnam.
So we are now halfway through our trip and moving south again, getting closer to our starting point of Bangkok after being the furthest away from it in Ha Long Bay. So stay tuned!
Franzi and Jonas
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