Ha
Long Bay is easily Vietnam’s top tourist destination and brings in thousands of
tourists daily during the peak season. There
are many cruise companies that offer 2 day/1 night or 3 day/2 night cruises
through the bay and this is by far the most popular way to tour this area. Known for its beauty, Ha Long Bay is
scattered with thousands of forest-topped, karst limestone islands that reach out
of its blue waters into the heavens. Its
ethereal beauty is something you would only expect to see on a movie screen and
it in fact has been featured in a small handful of movies; namely the recent King
Kong: Skull Island. It has also been
recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding geological and
geomorphological value, as well as its aesthetic value.
 |
| A view of just some of the many karst limestone formations |
Leaving
Cat Ba by ferry, we made our way to Ha Long Bay, the main port for the cruise
ships, deciding that we would just set up a cruise on our own.
This turned out to be much harder than we
expected.
Since most tourists book their
cruise out of Hanoi, most of the offices are based there.
Due to this, many of the tours also include
the price of transportation to and from Hanoi; something we didn’t need.
After walking to a few tour agencies we found
on Google Maps (that ended up not existing), we decided to just book a cruise
online instead.
This turned out to be
equally as difficult.
It is highly
recommended to book a Ha Long Bay Cruise in advance as they fill up
quickly.
In the end we emailed a few
agencies about reserving a spot on a 3 day/2night cruise for the following day
and hoped for the best.
To our surprise,
we had a response the following morning from Lavender Cruises and had to be at
the port just one hour later.
 |
| Cruise ships sailing through Halong Bay |
Our
cruise turned out to be pretty nice. The
ship was really classy and our room had a window the length of the wall
overlooking the bay. The first and last
day of a 3 day/2 night cruise are the same as a 2 day/1 night and since they don’t
book all of the people as the same type of cruise, half of our ship was different when
we returned to the boat on the second day.
 |
| Our cruise ship, the Lavender |
After settling
into our room, we were given a great lunch as we shipped off, out of the port,
and made our way through the bay. As we arrived
at our destination we were surprised at the number of ships that were anchored
there. The place which we were anchored
was a large body of water surrounded on all sides by tall, karst limestone islands and about 50 other boats similar to ours.
After
making anchor, everyone boarded a ferry boat and headed for Luon Cave. There were tons of people all lined up for the
tour and we were given the option to either go on a bigger bamboo boat with others
from our boat or do it ourselves by kayak.
Knowing we would have the chance to kayak later in the cruise we opted
for the bamboo boat. The boat took us
through a short tunnel through the rock wall and emerged on the other side in a
small lagoon completely encircled by tall limestone walls. While in the lagoon we watched monkeys as they
scampered across the rocks above.
 |
| Tourists and boats preparing to go through Luon Cave |
 |
| Bamboo boats and kayaks in the lagoon |
 |
| Monkeys eating fruit on rocks inside the lagoon |
After Luon Cave, our ferry boat took us to Ti Top Island, a small island in view of our
ship that had a small beach and a view point overlooking the bay. The staircase to the top was steep and lined
with people making their way up and down. Walking up the stairs almost felt like waiting in a line instead of hiking. At the top was an amazing 360° view of the bay. On our way down, we ended up at the front of the line of people hiking down and walked a little bit faster than we should have. Jade lost her balance and flew down a few stairs (and stuck an amazing landing if I do say so myself), hopping up and continuing the rest of the way down.
 |
| Ti Top Island |
 |
| Panoramic view from atop Ti Top Island |
That
night we attended a cooking class in which we learned how to make spring
rolls. Then, after another great meal, I
tried my hand at some squid fishing with a bamboo pole off the back of the
boat. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful
at catching anything, but I did see a few squid swim by in the light. Having been defeated by the squid, I grabbed a
beer from the room (we smuggled in our own beer because it is just cheaper that
way) and went to the top deck to hangout and view the bay at night.
 |
| Vietnamese fisherman in Halong Bay |
The following
day was a little different. Since half
of our boat was on the longer cruise, our ferry boat took us back to Ti Top
Island where we awaited a different boat to pick us up. Here we were joined by people from other
boats that had also chosen the 3-day cruise and spent the rest of the day exploring with them.
 |
| Our ferry boat during our second day out |
We started
the day with a visit to Ho Dong Tien Cave.
It was a small cave that was divided into three chambers; the last of
which was only accessible by crawling through a small tunnel. There was nothing particularly appealing
about the cave itself. To me, it was just
another small cave that had the signs of being over toured.
 |
| Last chamber in Ho Dong Tien Cave |
After
finishing the cave, we rode further into the bay to a spot set up with
kayaks. We were told that we had 1.5
hours to kayak and, if we wanted, there was a cave around the corner that we
could explore. Sliding into our kayak,
Jade and I made our way to the cave (when I say we made our way to the cave I
mean that Jade took video and pictures while I did the paddling…). At first sight the cave just looked like a
large but short opening in the rock face, but, as usual, I had to explore
further. After a little rock climbing I
found a path that led deeper and opened up into a large cavern that opened to
the bay on the other side. The cave was
much larger than I had expected and had a great view of the bay. While exploring the guano-covered rocks, I
could see bats as they swooped through the cave and could hear them screeching
as they wondered who had stumbled upon their home.
 |
| Jade and I kayaking in Halong Bay (as you can see, I am the only one holding a paddle) |
The
final part of our tour for the day was a visit to a pearl farm. Although not exciting, it was informational and
kind of cool to see how it all happens.
There was also the opportunity to buy some pearl jewelry at the end of
the tour.
 |
| Oyster farmers checking the oyster lines |
 |
| Workers culling through oysters |
Upon
returning to our ship we were met by a bunch of new faces. We knew this would be the case but were not
prepared for the dining hall seating arrangements to be all changed up. When we entered the dining hall, all of the
tables had been moved around and the only table free was with a few girls that
had been split from their group. After
they complained to the crew about being split from their group, the crew asked
if we would like to move tables.
Although we didn’t care, we had already started eating and it seemed like
a bit of an annoyance to have to move everything in the middle of a meal. Still, they made another table move around to
make room for us and helped us move all of our plates to the new table. We later found out that they had told our new
table we wanted to move so that we could practice our English…(Really!?!?)
 |
| Squid fishing boat in Halong Bay |
The
final day of our cruise was only a half day. After breakfast, we loaded up in the ferry
boat and made our way to Hang Sung Sot Cave.
At this point I was not expecting a lot from the caves of Ha Long Bay
but Hang Sung Sot Cave was surprising.
There were two openings to the cave, both on the side of a sheer cliff
and we had to climb a series of stairs to get to the entrance. Upon entering the cave, it was full of people. All of the cruise ships had sent all of their
patrons to the cave at the same time so it was shoulder to shoulder with
people. After entering the first chamber
we overheard one of the tour guides tell some of his group that if you climbed
through a tiny hole in the wall it would take you into the next chamber. So, after watching them disappear into the
darkness of the hole, we looked around and followed them. Popping out the other side, we were greeted
with a bunch of startled faces of tourists surprised that we had just come out
of the cave wall instead of walking on the prescribed path. At this point the cave began to open up but
it wasn’t until the third chamber that the cave really became expansive and the
area between groups of tourists began to clear.
The cave at this point was magnificent.
I was surprised by the size of the third chamber and all of the
formations that it held.
 |
| Last chamber in the Hang Sung Sot Cave |
After we
finished the cave, we were taken back to the ship where we packed our bags and
ate our last lunch aboard the Lavender as we sailed back to port. All in all, the cruise was nice. The bay was not as secluded as I thought it
would be with the number of ships that were anchored there and the tours were
at times (mostly the first and last day) overly crowded. All of the tours seemed very touristy as
well, though some of them were still nice.
The food and accommodations, on the other hand, were great to say the
least and worth the money. All of that
being said, in my opinion the whole Ha Long Bay cruise thing is worth the time and
money. It may be over touristy but the
experience and sites are worth it.
Was this information helpful? Share your thoughts and/or your own stories in the comments below.
No comments:
Post a Comment