Ha Long Bay

How do you describe Ha Long Bay?  There just aren’t words.  Now, keep in mind that Bill & I grew up in Colorado, hiking in the Rockies.  We’ve travelled just about everywhere in the U.S. but there is nothing, nothing, nothing we’ve ever seen as beautiful as this place.  The rocks, the greenery, the peaceful waters – it’s just indescribable. 

We booked an overnight cruise on a boat in Ha Long Bay.  We arrived about noon, boarded the boat, and were absolutely floored.  It looked nice in the website pictures, but it is the most beautiful  hotel we’ve ever stayed in.  The floors are teak wood, the walls and ceilings paneled in bamboo.  The dining room has silk tablecloths and hotel china.  The staterooms are queen-sized beds with fluffy hotel linens and full-sized bathrooms and showers.  So luxurious!

We had lunch on the boat while sailing to our first stop.  First stop was an island with a beach and lookout tower.  The tower was 400 VERY steep steps up, but really worth the climb.  You could see the whole bay from up there!  Okay, I admit, Bill made it to the top of the 400 steps – I stopped at an intermediate landing at 250 – still really great! :)  He keeps telling me he’s one up on me though, at the top of the world! 

We sailed on a bit more, and then anchored for the night.  Bill & I had made arrangements for a two-person kayak.  We kayaked for about an hour or so, through a couple of caves and to a hidden lake, completely surrounded by one of the Ha Long islands.  It was just about the coolest thing we’ve ever done!  We saw sea eagles swooping down over us to catch fish straight from the bay.  One of the caves had a lot of bats too – yikes!  Little mouse-sized ones, but still!  Our guide went first and chased them out, but the bat-thought was definitely on my mind! :)  When we got half-way inside, Bill says, “Boy, I bet there are a lot of snakes and spiders in here too!” just to be mean to me!  No more Indiana Jones movies for him for awhile!

We swam a little, and then had a nice Vietnamese dinner of fresh fish and seafood on the boat.  Prawns were the size of your hand, I swear!  So good! 

In the morning, we had coffee and croissants, and then went to tour another island to tour a really big cave there.  It’s like 10,000 square meters – really big!  We came back to a huge brunch on the boat and some free time to write this post while sailing back to Ha Long Town.

On the way to and from Ha Long Bay, we stopped at Dong Trieu ceramic and pottery village for some major shopping.  This village is all staffed by disabled children and street children.  The village supports them as well as trains them to the highest level in all sorts of Vietnamese handwork – jade carving, marble carving, jewelry making, embroidery, lacquer ware, silk-making and embroidery, and woodcarving.  It is just literally room after room after room of beautiful, unusual things made by these kids.  They are beyond talented.  Suffice it say, we already have to buy a new suitcase! :)  Please, please, please stop here though if you travel to Ha Long Bay!  It’s so great because it provides for those who most need it and it is a quick and easy way to hit a lot of the highlights all at once.  All prices are in US dollars, and you really don’t bargain here, which is great for me.  I love this country so much, I keep wanting to pay more for what I buy, rather than less, so I stink at the bargaining!

 Tonight we are off to Hoa Sua – a recommendation of the Clines, our resident Hanoi experts! :)  It is a French restaurant that is also run as a training center for disadvantaged young people.  Our tour guide said he thinks it is some of the best Western food in Hanoi as well.  We’ll let ya know! :)

P.S. - I posted two posts at the same time, so read about Hanoi below, if you haven't done so yet!