Cruising Halong Bay

Junkets on Halong Bay
see all photos »

Early in the morning of January 19th, we were picked up by a van for our trip to Halong Bay and a 2-day, 1-night cruise.  Halong Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin in northern Vietnam, is composed of 1600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars.  Most of the islands and islets are uninhabited.  Halong Bay was deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few years back.

It was a long 3 hour van ride to reach Halong Bay, but the view out the windows was interesting.  The journey included traveling thru many cities and small towns, but we also drove past a lot of rice paddies.  There are 2 rice growing seasons in Vietnam, and we were at the start of the winter season, so there was a lot of activity in the paddies with people planting the "seedlings."

Floating village
see all photos »

We reached Halong City (don't spend any time there!), and walked with our suitcases to the waterfront.  The water is literally clustered with hundreds of "junkets," the traditional sailing boat of the area.  The wooden boats historically had beautiful sails.  However, most of them no longer have them because the motor has taken over!  Anyway, we made our way to our junket, jumping over other junkets with our suitcases.  Our heavy suitcases.  Our hotel encouraged us to leave our suitcases behind with them, but I did not have anything to pack items for an overnight trip in, so it went along.  Next time, I'd leave it behind.

Sunset From Our Kayak
see all photos »

After finally boarding our junket, we sat down for lunch.  We sat at a table with another really nice couple (he lives in San Francisco, she lives in New York), and another couple from, let's say, the redneck south.  Let's just say that our mealtimes were made miserable by the man from "the south" who had never traveled abroad, and left his manners, if he had any, back in the 'holler. He was very rude and demanding to the staff, and at breakfast the next day, he threw a bonafide temper tantrum because our table did not receive enough jam for our toast.  Of course, I do not have any patience with rude diners anyway, so after blurting out a few lines at the idiot, I decided my breakfast was over, and made an escape from the table before the crew associated me with rude man and spit in my food or threw my luggage overboard!  Anyway, he was the talk of the boat amongst the other travelers (French, Dutch, Canadian, Danish), and we were later told by the Canadians that they had all nicknamed him "jam boy."  Please take your manners with you when you travel abroad, or just stay home!

Anyway, the afternoon was spent "sailing" on the water toward our first stop, a large cave tucked into one of the limestone formations.  It was discovered about a decade ago by a fisherman, and as Halong Bay became more geared for tourists the last few years, the government added lighting and guide rails to the cave and it has now become a tourist stop for the junkets.  That being said, it actually was well worth the stop.  It was HUGE and offered a great view of the water and the junkets below.

After hitting "sail" again, we passed several pearl farms, and headed toward a floating village to do some kayaking.  The water was really smooth, and it was an easy paddle.

We then headed out for the night, and put our anchors down with the rest of the junkets for the night.  We had great weather that day - sunny and okay temps.  We had time to lay out on the top deck in between the sun going behind the clouds.  In the summer, most of the travelers swim off the junkets in the afternoon, which would be great!  We were there in the "winter" so I was happy to have the weather we had.

That evening, our junket crew decided to hold karaoke night, which turned out to be more for them than the travelers!  It was the night that would never end!

I retired early and tried to drown out the sound.  The next morning, I got up early for what was supposed to be an hour of yoga and meditation on the top deck, but only found sleeping crew members and empty beer cans EVERYWHERE on the junket!  Someone had a good time the night before.  It was about 1 1/2 hours before the next live person made an appearance - jam boy!

We headed back across the Bay for Halong City and the end of our "sail."  Some of the travelers had opted for the 3-day, 2 night sail, which included a night on Cat Ba island in a hotel.  I would probably do this again if I had time, and in the summer months when the weather is a little warmer.