Halong Bay

The Carrie's disguised as Vietnamese women selling fruit
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After the excitement of Ho Chi Mihn City, we decided to fly to Hanoi and relax for a few days aboard a junk boat in Halong Bay.  In Hanoi we were walking down the street when a couple of ladies put their fruit baskets and hats on us.   It was clearly a tourist trick but it provided for some good pictures and gave us a chance to feel how heavy those things are on the shoulder.  You always see women walking down the street with the baskets full of fruit or other items.  I can't imaging dodging traffic with those, but the Vietnamese women do it everyday!

Mass of junk boats at the port in Halong Bay
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When we arrived at port in Halong Bay, it was chaos.  The port is build for about 20 junk boats and there were at least 100 trying to drop off and pick up passengers.  It was a riot watching boats try to squeeze their way to the front loading area.  Literally a boat would pull up and if it could find any space between two other boats it would rev its engine and try to push the boats apart enough to squeeze inbetween.  The best part was that the boats were two and three deep from the front loading area so usually it was hopeless.  That doesn't mean they didn't try.

Enjoying the sun on the top deck of our junk boat
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When we loaded onto our junk boat we had to board another junk boat walk clear through it and then climb onto our boat.  When we unloaded from our junk boat we had to walk through two other junk boats just to get back to the dock.  Additionally, we learned very quickly that they drive their boats much like they drive their cars and motos.  You can have a huge amount of space in the bay and the boats will pass within feet of each other.  It almost seems like a game of chicken.  Who is going to give way?   On the road, smaller yield to larger but with the boat they're all the same size!

Troy and Carrie kayaking through limestone rock caves in Halong Bay
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The bay itself was absolutely beautiful despite the haze from lack of rain.  We enjoyed watching all the various limestone rocks pass by from the sunny top deck of our junk boat (with a beer in hand, of course).   Later in the afternoon, we stopped at a floating village in the bay.  Immediately upon stopping we were greeted by small boats selling everything from fruit to Oreos to beer to Pringles.  We later called them the floating 7-11s.  At this stop we loaded into two-person kayaks which allowed us to get up close to the limestone rocks and paddle through several rock archways.  It was beautiful!

View of Halong Bay at sunrise
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The next morning we woke up early and hiked lots and lots of stairs up to a viewpoint on the top of one of the limestone rocks.  It was just after sunrise and enjoyed the contrasting ariel perspective of the bay.  After the viewpoint we headed to a cave in the side of one of the limestone rocks which is actually called the amazing cave and we discovered why.  It was beautiful and huge.  Certainly one of the biggest caves I've ever been inside.  Finally it was beach time.  The tour company we chose had a small resort on a private island with only four beach bungalows.  This allowed us to enjoy a quiet afternoon of playing with the cute puppies, throwing rocks for the mama dog, lounging in the sun, reading books and more kayaking.  Troy, Tony and I actually undertook the task of kayaking around the entire island.  In the process we braved wind, waves and currents and found two small sandy stretches of beach (which we explored for shells).

Group picture in the amazing cave
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The adventure of Halong Bay ended with a 4-hour cruise back to the port where we realized just how quiet and peaceful the bay had been without the honking horns and harassing street vendors.

Halong Bay has been nominated for one of the 7 natural wonders of the world (which I believe everyone gets to vote on in 2008).  Although the geology and scenery is spectacular, the Vietnamese people have a lot to learn about sustainability and the environment.  First of all there are simply too many boats in the bay which causes lots of pollution in the water.  Second, you constantely see lots of trash (especially plastic bags) floating in the water.  Finally, dynamite fishing still occurs (we heard it) and most of the area has been fished out.  Needless to say it probably won't get my vote unless there is some serious change towards conservation which happens in the near future.