Happiness in Ha Long Bay

So I’ll have to come clean. I didn’t know where Ha Long Bay was until I watched the Top Gear Vietnam special, but when I did, I really wanted to visit! So we booked a three day trip to Ha Long with Fantasea Tours through our hostel in Hanoi. We fancied a bit of kayaking so we booked 2 nights on a junk boat that allowed us a few hours of kayaking and some swimming. The bay is known for the thousands of limestone islands emerging from the sea, and became a World Heritage site in 1994. Local legend says that a family of dragons were sent by the gods to help protect against invaders and they stayed in the bay because they liked it so much.

The bay is full of big junk boats ready to take tourists through the emerald waters and our boat luckily headed slightly further north, away from all the others. We stopped at Hang Dau Go, a huge three chambered cave with fantastic stalactites and colourful lighting that gets you seeing all sorts of things in the rock formations as you go. I definitely saw a lion, an elephant and a dragon that almost looked like they had been carved into the rock. We headed back to the boat for lunch, which seemed to be never ending, more plates of food just kept appearing! Fuelled, we hopped in some pretty old, battered, kayaks who’s paddles had definitely seen better days! As we kayaked, I was surprised to see a pretty rowdy family of small monkeys on the cliff face just jumping from rock to vine to foliage. It was amazing to see how fearlessly they moved, but I would like to know if they can swim or if they just stay on the one rock all the time. Dinner was another huge feast and after a little star gazing on the top deck, it was time to sleep.

The next morning after, yes you guessed it, a massive breakfast, we visited Titop island which has a climb to the top for some spectacular views of the bay. We then hopped on a different boat to the rest of the group, as they were staying on Cat Ba island that night. We joined some other folks from different tours who had opted for some kayaking and swimming too. The boat sailed slowly further north in Ha Long and as we lay in the sun, we meandered through the tall rocks, each as amazing as the last. It was a really nice group, with a German couple, an American couple and a father and son from Ireland who were wearing green Irish t-shirts and no sun cream! Our guide headed off in the lead kayak once we anchored the boat and kayaked to a cave and a secluded beach where we left the kayaks and had a swim around. Then after a couple of hours kayaking, we headed back to the boat for lunch and a sunbathe.

Our next stop was a pearl farm where we learned about the cultured pearls that are grown there. I always find it so fascinating to see how the oysters are carefully treated and cared for to create this beautiful product. We had a demo which included checking an oyster that had been implanted 18 months before and as the guide cut open the oyster, a little grey pearl popped out. It was what they consider ‘imperfect’ as it wasn’t completely round and would most likely be ground down into powder to be used in cosmetics. But, the girl from New York on the tour (who’s middle name is Pearl) wanted to buy it. The ladies working in the shop couldn’t understand that she wanted a pearl that wasn’t good enough to be made into jewellery, but she finally convinced them to sell it to her. She was so chuffed and we left the baffled shop assistants shaking their heads at the ‘crazy tourists’!

We loved our trip to Ha Long and we’re so lucky to have beautiful sunshine, as it is the end of rainy season in Vietnam and there had been a big storm the week before, with all the tours cancelled! A few hours on the bus brought us back to Hanoi and we headed out for a walk around the lake before going to the station for our overnight train to Hué. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the manic lanes of cars and mopeds had been replaced by a pedestrianised area where a group called Love Hanoi had set up games for kids and adults. There were skipping ropes and chalk and a tug of war that Graham totally won 😆. It was nice to see people just relaxing and spending time with family. Maybe we should start having kids games in Ireland and the UK a bit more!