The Dreamy Halong Bay

The white junks ready for boarding

A visit to Vietnam is not complete without setting foot on Halong Bay. We have always been fascinated by the foggy look of a bay surrounded by islands and islets from postcards. So, this is the main focus of our trip to Hanoi.

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it has roughly 2000 islands and islets and most of them are limestone. According to the Vietnamese legend, the islands and islets were jewels spitted out by dragons to protect the bay from the invasion of the intruders. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha_Long_Bay)

This is the one we are boarding

We only booked the Halong Bay tour through our hotel when we were in Hanoi. As we were afraid of seasick and did not want to spend the night overboard, we had opted for the day tour. The weather at Halong Bay on that day was a little disappointing as it was raining in the morning.  However, that did not spoil our fun and excitement.

A boat selling tropical fruits at Halong Bay

The mini bus from the tour agency picked us up at our hotel at about 8 a.m. There was a tour guide to take us there. There were about 16 people in the group. The tour guide, Tom, spoke very good English. He was entertaining too. Besides, he was very sporting as at the end of the day, he sang us a song before we parted, not to mention, he was a good singer.

The tour was organised by Alova Day Cruise

Tom (left), our tour guide, briefing our group before entering the limestone cave

When we reached Halong Bay, Tom bought the tickets for the whole group and immediately, we boarded the modern look junk or boat. Soon, we were eating our lunch on board (which was included in the package). The food served was basically Chinese cuisine. We thought the taste of the food could have been better. The portion was enough for everyone.

Our lunch: rice with a few dishes including seafood and vegetables

While eating lunch, we were overwhelmed by the stunning foggy look of the bay. Most of us were snapping photos. We could not believe that we were indeed cruising along one of UNESCO World Heritage sites. It was just dreamlike given the foggy weather after rain. It also reminded us of our Guilin trip.

The carving of a wooden dragon head in front of our junk

Tom pointed out to everyone the Kissing Rock, which was also printed on the back 200,000 dong note. We were elated.

The kissing rocks was once known as the fighting cocks

Next, we reached the fishing village and there, we were transferred to the small bamboo boat, which could accommodate a few passengers at a time and it was rowed using a long bamboo by the rower. Or we could go kayaking on our own. However, bamboo boat ride and kayaking were not included in the package so, we had to pay additional fee for that (actually, we were not told when we made the reservation) but it was worthwhile. The bamboo boat ride or kayaking would bring us to the wet caves.

The floating fishing village that we passed by

Our bamboo boats waiting for us

The caves were spectacular. We could view the structures up close from our bamboo boat. The highlight of the day was the elderly rower of our bamboo boat navigating the boat through a gap between two big rocks. We never thought the boat was small enough to pass through. I had nearly screamed when the boat seemed to be stuck in between the two rocks. But it did not. (Phew!)

Is this gap big enough for our bamboo boat to pass through?? Yes... (Phew!)

The stunning rocks surrounding the wet caves

We are heading to the entrance of the wet caves like that boat in front

Bamboo boats and kayaks dotted the fishing village area in Halong Bay

Young Vietnamese boys rowing a boat

Although it was raining in the morning during our journey to Halong Bay, the sky here was clear but very cloudy and foggy. The breeze was cold as we had to don our wool sweater and scarves. After the trip to the wet caves, we only realised that how peaceful it was to stay overnight in Halong Bay. We just wished we had.

Islets and islands at Halong Bay

We are practically surrounded by dreamlike islands and islets

Next, we were brought to visit a limestone cave "Dong Thien Cung". The structures of the stalagmites and stalactites were better than Guilin's. Wow! The colourful lights that were put up did their job well. All the wonderful structures came to live instantly. The view was just mesmerizing. 

Dong Thien Cung is the best limestone cave we ever visited

Just fascinated by the colours

We had to follow Tom real close to avoid losing our way as there were quite many visitors at that time. According to him, this limestone cave was newly discovered when several fishermen took cover here during a storm.

A peek into the stalactites and stalagmites that taken hundreds of years to form

The air in here was cool. We had to be careful of the slippery and uneven floor. Although there were colourful lights illuminating the limestone structures, the rest of the cave was not very bright. So, we had to watch our steps.

Jelly fish clusters?

The reflection

All in all, Halong Bay trip was worthwhile despite we had to travel in total about 6 hours to and fro Hanoi. 

If you are interested in doing some souvenir shopping, the tour did stop at two different handicraft centres along the way.