9/6/2010 - 9/8/2010 (ha noi)

Ha Noi - Halong Bay - Sapa

One of the main recommendations people gave us was a stop at Halong Bay. Halong Bay is located in the northeastern corner of Vietnam on the Gulf of Tonkin. The Bay is famous for its 2000 plus rock formations that rise out of the water to create breathtaking views. It can be difficult choosing a boat, which in Vietnam is called a junk. I think everyone in Vietnam has a part time business of selling tours for the bay and all for vastly different prices. You can easily be on the same boat, eating the same food and have paid $100(US) more than your fellow travelers, so you have to be a little cautious about your purchase. Annie and I spent a good amount of time in Ha Noi meeting with different tour operators and settled on Ethnic Travel based on a Lonely Planet recommendation. Ethnic Travel focuses on more remote locations and tries to steer clear of upwards of 500 competing junks on the bay. That was enough of a selling point for us and we negotiated a killer deal for a two night, three day tour. 

We started our journey in an oversized van with only the driver, guide, a French couple, and ourselves. It was heaven, not being crammed in like sardines. The trip was relaxing and we made one stop in a ceramic village for some tea. When we arrived in Halong Bay, things quickly picked up as we were engulfed in a sea of backpacker tourists. Our guide joined up with a Spanish couple and escorted us to our junk. The junk was a modern two level craft that resembled an oversized tug boat including old rubber tires hanging from the sides. The first level was the sleeping quarters and the second level was an open air dining area. The top of the boat had a sun deck with mast and sails. We settled into our quarters and then joined the group for a fresh seafood lunch and were on our way. The bay didn’t disappoint in natural beauty as we coasted by hundreds of limestone peaks. We sailed for several hours as Annie and I got acquainted with our traveling companions, Stephen and Caroline from France and Victor and Martha from Spain. Later in the day, we stopped in a small fishing village and took a water taxi through the village to say hello to the locals. The taxi looked like a large upside down turtle shell and was piloted by a young Vietnamese girl. The fishing village consisted of many floating houses connected by rickety wooden docks. It would be a very unique way of life. As the sun began to set on the day, the captain parked the boat in a quiet cove and we spent the next hour taking a refreshing swim in the emerald waters of the bay. Many of us jumped off the second story while admiring the high flying acrobatics of our captain as he preformed his best Olympic diver impersonations from the high sun deck. After our swim we enjoyed more fresh prawns and some lively card games before retiring for the evening. 

On our second day, we ate breakfast at 7:30am and then stopped at the Surprising Cave. We were very surprised at just how big the cave was in the middle of a large limestone island and its peak offered some spectacular views of the harbor. We then returned to the Halong harbor and got back on the van to venture east to a more remote part of Vietnam called Bai Tu Long Bay. The trip was an hour and a half. We boarded a much more basic boat and set sail for Quan Lan Island. During the afternoon, we stopped for lunch and then spent the next few hours kayaking and swimming. We were surrounded by limestone rock formations and the only other inhabitants were local fisherman. In the late afternoon, we arrived at Quan Lan Island as the bronze sun illuminated the pale white sand of this remote locale. We loaded all of our luggage into a tuk tuk and were on our way to stay with a local family for the evening. With no tourists in sight, we made our way up the narrow sandy road of this former military island. We stayed with a retired fisherman in a very luxurious home stay and enjoyed a very large dinner and many ice cold beers. We had many laughs as we taught our charismatic Vietnamese guide Quan, American slang. 

On our final day of the tour, we woke up again for a 7:30am breakfast and then cycled 15km to a small beach near the northern harbor for one final swim. We boarded our final boat for the two hour return to Bai Tu Long harbor and enjoyed one last look at the spectacular scenery. When we got back, the van picked us up and took us back to Ha Noi where Annie and I caught the overnight train to Sapa for some mountain trekking. For me, the tour to Halong Bay was one of the most enjoyable things we have done on our trip with many elements aligning including weather, food, company, and sights to make for an outstanding experience.

Halong Bay High Dive from Annie Lin on Vimeo.

Toured Halong Bay in Vietnam and our boat captain took our camera on a dive from the top deck of our boat.