The Big Asia Trip: Ha Long Bay

Now that I've gotten that hairy monkey off my back that was the first blog in a long time, about a place which, frankly, was a little forgetful, I can move onto more interesting pastures.

Islands formed from dragons gobbing

Ha Long Bay -  as the names suggests for my Chinese brethren, means Bay of the Descending Dragon - I do believe there was a legend behind it, so started my awkwardly accented Vietnamese tour guide, but I sort of zoned out when he mentioned something about dragons spitting out pearls from the sky that turned into the islands of the bay. 


Given my underwhelming experience in Hanoi, I was again a little skeptical, which could only have made my experience better overall because at the end of the day I was immensely grateful for having to get up at stupid o'clock in the morning to be shuttled two hours east across Vietnam. Who says pessimism doesn't pay off? (Probably a pessimist.)

Stretching my legs off the early morning mini-bus ride, I started to get a bit excited/nervous about what would follow. As we walked along the wooden pier, several small vessels were docked, pulling in and pulling out of the bay, whilst my companions and I were looked about with trepidation as to which would be our ride. Would it be that lavishly grand triple-deck cruiser? The seedy looking tourist-trappy boat that would undoubtedly take you to sixteen different fake floating markets? Or that dilapidated set of wooden logs in the corner there?

Ma boat?

In the end, I was relieved to find we were hustled onto a relatively small, but well kept two-tiered boat with a seating area at the bottom and a deck-chaired balcony up top. We were served a simple but decent lunch with fish, vegetables and fruits, though we were made to buy our own soft drinks for what was considered to be an extortionate price of 1USD per can.

Boat lunch - surprisingly good

Declaring myself satisfied with lunch, I later clamoured out onto the upper deck, awaiting the upcoming scenary, and found Halong Bay to be a picture of charm, beauty and tranquility. The waters were calm throughout, and the mists that swirled around the islands exuded a sense of the mystic, the other-worldly. I have been told that there are thousands of islands in the Bay - I could have stared into that 
landscape for hours, and for those moments, would have been entirely content with life. Following the urban sprawl that I had previously known Vietnam to be, this was such a welcome and surprising change of scenery and pace. 

Watercolour perfect

When we docked by a small pier, there was the opportunity to extort us get a closer, more intimate view of the Bay by hopping onboard an even smaller boat (I think they called it Kayaking) powered merely by the grit and determination of local Vietnamese women. For something like 20USD, we were not impressed and were reluctant to hand over the cash, but it was such a beautiful spot and there was no risk of required labour on our part so we thought why not. 

I was as dubious as you are

We, powered by Steely Armed Vietnamese Woman © took a little row around part of the Bay, where the tranquillity of the air was interrupted only for the rhythmic swushing noises of the oars. The lady didn't say a word the whole time, only rowing and manoeuvring us effortlessly around, calmly stabilising a fraught situation whenever someone thought to move erratically and upset the boat. Apart from the hard labour, I actually think its a very lucrative business - and on a pro rata basis, I am a little disheartened to thinking that she probably gets paid more than I do..

raargh

After I boarded said little wooden boat, I sat staunchly, with trepidation, and tried not to think of certain death should the boat upturn itself. Eventually, I realised this really was not going to happen, not in these calm waters, and not with the Vietnamese Iron Lady as my protector.  Instead my mind wandered to the wonderful views around me, of the gigantic, awe-inspiring mountains with their lush greens, resting atop the the calm of the surface.

Green + Peace

We drifted through what looked like a big ole crack in the wall, into a magical little inlet, which I imagine could have been used for so many filmsets, shooting an idyllic scene by the water. The image reminded me of the film, "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter..Spring" - minus the clandestine affair. 

An idyllic scene as you drift into the inlet

I'm not sure how long the 'Kayak' trip took - perhaps 40 minutes or so, but I enjoyed every moment of it. I did nothing but sat, stared, probably with a dumb look on my face, thinking to myself how lucky I was to be here.   

We didn't just flap about on the water. We also visited Thien Cung Grotto (the Heavenly Cave),  a large, cool space with loads of moody lights fitted in all the right places, to showcase the natural awesomeness that are stalagmites and stalactites. I didn't keep up with the tour-guide here, as the place was so massive, and there were many stone steps and wooden walkways to trundle across whilst you gaped and attempted to take artistic photos of the shadowy caverns and suggestive rock formations.  

EK did manage to eavesdrop onto another chinese-speaking tour group however, and explained to me how one particular piece of rock resembled the sitting form of a young girl, who married the dragon in the cave as a  sacrificial gesture for her oppressed people. I did manage to get a glimpse of that rock, which to me looked very much like a lump of craggy stone.  Another particular rock formation supposedly resembled a woman's nipple - you can see it in the below photo. Well, after I heard that, there was no other way I could see it but as a nipple. The chinese tour guide had explained that touching its base held good luck - given the base was next to the walkway that led to the exit, cue a dozen or so coy looking chinese tourists nonchalantly passing the base of the giant nipple, touching it as they went and glancing back at their friends in a sort of "oh, this is sooo stupid..(rub rub rub)" gesture.

When we exited the cave, it was a slow, chilled boat ride back to the pier and the mini-bus, and luckily for us it was a wonderful evening approaching sunset. Now, I imagine it wears a bit thin, and doesn't really do it justice if I keep using the words "idyllic" and "tranquil", and show you pictures of water.  The real experience can't be described by words, or at least any that I know how to put into a coherent sentence. It was just a pleasure to sit there and watch the beautiful manifestations of nature surrounding me.

totes gorge.

We arrived back to Hanoi in the early evening - I was a little tired and stiff, but very much content with the day. Soon after, we departed Vietnam, and I was glad that I finished the trip on that experience.  After the apathetic response I had to HCM and Hanoi, I was happy to have seen the bare, natural side of the country. Though I will never see it all, I jetted off safe in the knowledge that there was much more to Vietnam than meets the eye.

Views I could never tire of.. 

Next up... Siem Reap, Cambodia. A wondrous place, where my words will fail me in doing the enchantment of the place any justice. But, I'll try.