Halong Bay - The Experience of a Lifetime

It's been a whilewind since I was last here, that's for sure.

Courtesy of the aforementioned floods in the Central Highlands, Sim and I made an executive decision to head back to Saigon and simply fly across the country to Hanoi. Courtesy of some excellently-priced flights, we were able to do so, and flew over the north of the country, arriving late last week.

We spent a day wandering the streets of Hanoi, initially, to find that it's a far more delightful city than Saigon. It's just... bustling et beautiful, French colonial architecture abound, an a certain integrity and grit to the city that's always appealing. We immediately booked our tour of Halong Bay, ready to head straight into it.

For those of you who don't know about Halong Bay, here's a description from its UNESCO World Heritage Site listing:

Situated in the North-East region of Vietnam, Halong Bay is a bay in the Gulf of Tonkin comprised of regions of Halong City, the township of Cam Pha, and a part of the island district of Van Don. Halong Bay borders Cat Ba Island in the southwest, the East Sea in the east, and the mainland, creating a 120 km coastline.

Halong Bay is made up of 1,969 islands of various sizes, 989 of which have been given names. There are two kinds of islands, limestone and schist, which are concentrated in two main zones: the southeast (belonging to Bai Tu Long Bay), and the southwest (belonging to Halong Bay). This densely concentrated zone of stone islands, world famous for its spectacular scenery of grottoes and caves, forms the central zone of Halong Bay, which has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site... an area of 43,400 ha...

Viewed from above, Halong Bay resembles a geographic work of art. While exploring the bay, you feel lost in a legendary world of stone islands. There is Man's Head Island, which resembles a man standing and looking towards the mainland. Dragon Island looks like a dragon hovering above the turquoise water. La Vong Island resembles an old man fishing. There are also the islands of the Sail, the Pair of Roosters, and the Incense Burner, which all astonishingly resemble their namesakes. The forms of the islands change depending on the angle of the light and from where the islands are viewed. At the core of the islands, there are wonderful caves and grottoes, such as Thien Cung (Heavenly Residence Grotto), Dau Go (Driftwood Grotto), Sung Sot (Surprise Grotto), and Tam Cung (Three Palace Grotto).

Halong Bay has many links to the history of Vietnam. For example, there are such famous geographical sites as Van Don (site of an ancient commercial port), Poem Mountain (with engravings of many poems about emperors and other famous historical figures), and Bach Dang River (the location of two fierce naval battles fought against foreign aggressors).
It has been proven by scientists that Halong was one of the first cradles of human existence in the area at such archeological sites as Dong Mang, Xich Tho, Soi Nhu, and Thoi Gieng. It is also a region of highly-concentrated biological diversity with many ecosystems of salt water-flooded forests, coral reefs, and tropical forests featuring thousands of species of animal and plant life.

With all this in mind, the 18th meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Thailand on December 17th, 1994), officially recognized Halong Bay as a natural heritage site of worldwide importance.


Yes... Halong Bay. A sight for tired Australian eyes. We booked a three day tour, and spent the first day travelling out to the bay, then to settle into the refurbished junk (like a pirate ship, really) that we'd spend our first night on. It was great! Sailing away into the distance. We spent the afternoon eating, drinking, and swimming in the bay (mostly by jumping off the roof of the boat, which was great.)

The second day, we spent mostly on two-person kayaks. Our tour guide went through the safety routine before we were able to head out as a group, often kayaking beneath - yes, beneath - some of the limestone cliffs around us. The water was a beautiful emerald green colour, so clean, so precious. Then onto a smaller junk headed out to Cat Ba Island, off the coast of Halong Bay, some forty minutes from where we were anchored.

We spent the evening and the following day mostly in the four-star RESORT that we'd been given as part of the tour, complete with the usual perks (hah!) like a private beach and swimming pool. A definite luxury experience, not too shabby, that's for sure.. Certainly not what we'd expected. But nice, nonetheless.

So we're back in Hanoi today, and spent a lovely day wandering the city, seeing the Temple of Literature and the like. Simon had a great street-side haircut from a local guy, who shaved his head and beard (leaving the moustache!) - much to the amusement of the locals (and foreigners) scattered around us. That was great.

And finally, a late lunch and coffee at KOTO, a famous Australian-Vietnamese restaurant which is based upon giving disadvantaged street kids an opportunity to learn on the job hospitality training skills. The food was delectable and the service excellent, and all for a good cause, too.

Only two more days in Hanoi before heading upwards and onwards, we'll post photos soon (definitely some of Halong Bay!) Until then, all our love. xo