Sunday morning early we were picked up at our hotel in Hanoi and bused to the port at Ha Long Bay. There we boarded a small launch which took us to a small cruise boat in the harbor. Our cruise boat had 16 guest rooms plus a dining room and plenty of deck area.
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| We're going to the boat on the left. Our cabin was in the very back. |
While the boat cruised out into Ha Long Bay they served a very nice lunch, and we had a little time to settle into our room which included a private balcony on the stern of the boat. Ellen and I are new to being on an organized tour where things happen on someone else's schedule, so there is a bit of an adjustment there. On the other hand, the food was very elegant. Check out the fruit-carved swan on Ellen's drink.
Ha Long Bay is on UNESCO's short list of wonders of the world, and it's not hard to understand why. There are about 2000 limestone islands poking out of the sea. Even with cloudy weather and flat lighting it's a fascinating sight, and as the boat motors along the scenery changes literally every minute.
Sometimes we see small fishing boats among the islands
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Ha Long Bay is a very popular area for tourism, and it seems most of the boats follow similar itineraries. In the evening we could usually count about eleven others anchored near us.
In the afternoon the launch ferried us to a quiet area surrounded by islands where we were able to kayak around (sit on top double kayaks), and then swim in the bay. The air was cool and even though the water was warmer only a few of our fellow cruisers took advantage of the opportunity. When we finished swimming and climbed back onto the launch we were greeted by the crew with towels and cold beer.
One feature of a cruise like this is meeting other passengers, and we found some interesting ones. Peter, a recent Harvard grad trying to get started as a screenwriter, was traveling with Wayne, a very successful entrepreneur who lives all over the world and is collaborating on their script. There were a very nice couple from Germany: she runs the Heidelberg campus for an international university. Clive and his son Che are from Capetown. Clive is trying to save the world: initially through a series of opposition groups and NGOs during the apartheid era and now working in policy analysis with the government; Che is a very creative musician and aspiring filmmaker.
Monday morning started with Tai Chi on the upper deck at 6:30 followed by breakfast at 7. At 7:30 most of the passengers took off on the launch to explore the cave on a nearby island, but because we were signed up for an additional day we were picked up a little later to join a another small group on a different boat exploring Bai Tu Long Bay. Our guide explained that while there are 500 tour boats on Ha Long Bay, there are only 50 on adjacent Bai Tu Long Bay Once on the other boat we joined a group of six older men from Mumbai for additional excursions. We went to another island for kayaking (our Indian friends all declined this, so only Ellen and I kayaked with our guide) to explore a large cave.
After a large lunch, our next stop was a floating fishing village. Some live in small floating homes; others live on their fishing boats. Many of the women row their boats with their feet.
Last stop was a pearl farm. We saw how they culture the pearls and raise the oysters. Our guide pulled an oyster out of tank, warned us that only about 30 percent have oysters, shucked it open and pulled out a beautiful pearl a little larger than a pea. Cool! Mid-afternoon a launch brought us back to our own boat where we had a little time to chill before happy hour and then dinner.
Tuesday started again with 6:30 am Tai Chi, breakfast, and then an excursion to a nearby island to explore the large cave there. Once back on the boat we had a little time to pack up and relax before lunch; after lunch the launch took us back to shore to conclude our cruise. A van was waiting to shuttle us from the harbor to our next destination near Ninh Binh.
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