Saturday, April 11
Thankfully we had read previous cruiser's reviews of the Halong Bay tour we planned to take and had seen that it is often misty or wet in the mornings and so we booked a 1.00pm tour. When we opened our blinds this morning it was foggy and grey so we were glad of the advance warning.
Looking at limestone formations from our junk
In Vietnamese, Halong Bay means Bay of the Descending Dragon. Apparently the myth goes that a dragon spat jewels into the sea to protect against invaders and those jewels turned into the nearly 3000 limestone islands that now jut out of Halong Bay's waters. In 2012 Halong Bay was named as one of the world's new seven wonders and has since become a UNESCO World Heritage site. It really is an unforgettable sight. The brochure read "Fantastic caves and grottos reveal a hidden underworld, towering cliffs rise from the smooth water, and colourful junks and tiny fishing boats crisscross the bay. White sand beaches and hidden inlets wait to be discovered among the many islands" and we thought that was a pretty good description of this lovely part of the world.
Looking down on the many junks ferrying tourists to the caves
At 1 pm a converted fishing junk came alongside our ship and we boarded it for a 4 hour bay cruise & Thien Cung Cave trip. Although the sun was not shining, the mist had lifted considerably and the sky was brighter making the sea a green colour. We glided along peacefully and our guide pointed out different limestone formations, mostly named by fishermen throughout the centuries, like the kissing chickens, incense burner rock, etc.
Kissing Chicken Rocks
Our guide's English was infinitely better than our Vietnamese but still she had some funny turns of phrase. She explained all the maritime safety "revelations" and warned us of the impending "strike" when our junk hit the pier and the junk alongside it when we reached the dock for the cave.
Our guide, Ng Anh, points out some formations
Lonely Planet Guide describes the cave as lit like a circus and this was certainly true but it did add to the atmosphere. Considerable imagination was required to make out the shapes of many of the stalagmite and stalactite formations in the cave. I could not see "Snow White" for looking but did manage a dragon and elephant. As with all ship's excursions, because there are always passengers who totally disregard the suggested physical ability requirements for each tour, movement is fairly slow and the 152 steps in the cave did nothing to help this. Once back on board our junk one of the more elderly passengers blacked out and had to be stretchered to an area for care. Then it was found another passenger was missing. He finally showed up 20 minutes later and apologized for getting lost. How anyone can get lost from a single file line climbing slowly up steps is beyond us but such are the joys of ship's tours!
More stalagmite & stalactite formations
It was a lovely, peaceful trip back to our ship as we glided past the many formations jutting out all around us. No wonder Halong Bay is so popular with movie directors.
As soon as we got back, we boarded one of our ship's tenders and went to the main Halong Bay town in search of what has proved to be fairly elusive to date, a strong enough wifi signal to post our blog and photos. Again, not total success but at least we could update Facebook and Instagram and post the words of our blog. We are hopeful we will have more success in posting all the missing photos in our next port of call, Hong Kong. The tender ride back to our ship was enjoyable as we watched the amazing light show on the Halong Bay bridge. Another great day!
Halong Bay Bridge at night
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