Travels in Vietnam

N 78   Ha Long Bay

-        Today was a great day. We were going to visit the famous UNESCO designated Ha Long Bay. At first I know that only old and historical places like Angkor Wat  are registered UNESCO sites. But only not long ago I came to know that some natural environment which has exceptional beauty and aesthetic  importance can also be designated UNESCO sites. So Ha Long bay must be one of them.

We learned that to visit Ha Long bay will take the whole day because it is about 170 klms away. So we arranged to go there with  a travel agency which is near our hotel. The ticket cost us 35 $ each and it included the bus ride, lunch on the boat, the boat ride and oh…. also the kayaking ( they called it kayaking but actually it is boating ) and visit to a cave.The price not bad we thought.

The bus punctually  picked us up at 8 but with all the pickings it was over  9 when we finally say bye…. to Hanoi and Hi… Ha Long bay here we come…. and started our first part of our journey.

The road is not bad though it is not a real expressway. We stopped at a big souvenir mall selling splendid Vietnamese handicraft on the way and finally arrived  Ha Long about noon.

Immediately  we had to cross a concrete platform with souvenir stalls and taken to our boat which we will have to cruise the bay with. It was not the kind of boat I had been dreaming of, which was a double or triple decker or some junk like boat with sails which I had seen in photos. But it was a simple single deck boat with a roof which one can get on and look around.

But in the boat tables were all laid out , each for 6 people , ready to be served lunch. And so we started our special lunch of seafood. A lunch of all kinds of sea food, fishes, prawns, clams, mother of pearls, squids, and even crabs. While we eat the boat started to cruise around the bay.

Because we were hungry and thus enjoying our foods, only when our stomachs were filled that we remember to look around. The scenery that should be called first class is not strange to my eyes because I have seen them too many times in photos and on TVs. The photos captured by best photographers with best equipments may be even prettier than the real bay, but the feeling that I was experiencing this spectacular seascape, while seeing it with my own eyes, gave me some feeling of excitement ,  delightfulness , and contentment, like some dreams coming  true.

The boat ferried us through emerald waters towards Chicken island where kayaking was to be done. Before long we reached there and got onto a wood landing and people who were going for kayaking prepared to do so . We 2 old people did not go but waited only at this place ( I later regretted this )while other people donned life jackets and got onto the kayaks ( 6 in each ) and left.Judging from the photos they took I realized they had an amazing time.

The visit to the cave was also done from this place. After they cheerfully came back from kayaking they were told to get ready for the cave excursion. I was warned beforehand that the steps leading to the cave were a little slippery and that we will have to do some ascending, so we chose not to go this time either.

We just stayed on the boat drinking a cup of coffee and sometimes bargaining and buying some souvenirs  which the proprietor came and sold to us. When the visitors to the cave came back after about 40 minutes the boat turned back to take us to shore.

What we had seen today of Ha Long was only a fraction of this vast bay ( it has an area of 1553 sq klms) with over 1600 limestone islands topped by rainforests.  Even  a native of this place will not be able to visit the whole place in his lifetime. But for us to see something is better than nothing

It was already early evening. The tour company had said that we will be back in Hanoi about 8:30 and surely we were. It was a tiring day but the experience visiting this amazing place will remain in my heart forever.