Halong bay, Vietnam
A friend of mine had told me that we just HAD to see Ha Long Bay. We only had two days, as we arrived in Hanoi on a Friday afternoon and were scheduled to collect Molly on the Monday. So as soon as we had arrived at our hotel ,we asked in the reception if they could help us. They put us in touch with some agency who sold such tours, but it was very expensive. We booked a two-day guided tour to Ha Long Bay - it included a several-hour bus trip to Ha Long City, meals (lunch and dinner, both Saturday and Sunday), overnight boat trip (including a visit to a grotto) to Cat Ba Island in the bay,!
The bus trip to and from Hanoi was good because it gave us a chance to see the Vietnamese countryside. And coming from a western country, the sight of hundreds of people working the rice fields in their rice hats, barefooted, with their water buffalos, is fantastic.
Ha Long Bay is very beautiful. Thousands of huge limestones rise out of the sea, ghost-like against the sun. It would be so easy to get lost among them. Fortunately our captain knew where he was going! We sailed for five hours, visited a grotto, and ended up late in the evening on Cat Ba Island, where we stayed the night We were told that Cat Ba Island is beautiful if you can get to some of the small beaches between the rocks
When we woke up the next day, we were met with a beautiful sight of the harbor at Cat Ba Island. Thousands of boats, big and small, fishing boats, house boats, you name it! scattered the water. When we set out again, we sailed out between them all. Then followed a five-hour sailing trip back to Ha Long City, during which we stopped and had a swim.
Ha Long Bay is a fantastic area and definitely a place you should visit if you have the time!
Posted by : Indochina Sails: http://www.indochinasails.com
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
