Ha Long Bay

the Bay

the Bay

We joined a small tour to Ha Long Bay for 3 days and 2 nights spending the first night on the boat and the second night in a hotel on the Cat Ma Island. There were 15 of us from U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, and us. The rest of the group were in their 20’s but we had a good time together.  It was a 4 hour bus ride from Hanoi to Ha Long. It was the first we had been out of the city; it was nice to see some countryside.

Ha Long Bay means “descending dragon bay.” There is a legend about dragons defending the Vietnamese against invaders. The dragons spit out jewels which formed the many islands.
Part of Ha Long Bay is a World Heritage Site. Our room on the boat was very adequate and the meals were great.

The limestone formations are beautiful—even in the clouds and the mist. We stopped and visited the largest cave (Hang Sung Sot) on one of the islands.

The second day we climbed to the top of Titop Mountain – 420 steps. It was worth the energy as we had a 360 degree view of the area. Most of the group headed back to shore. Another couple and us left the main boat for a smaller boat (junk) and travelled to a less touristy area. We docked and cycled about 30 minutes to a small village, climbing a steep hill, riding through a shady path, and past rice fields. Visited a rural home where we saw the simple house and kitchen and visited the pigs and chickens. The wife was making rice wine. We left our bikes and hiked about 1 ½ hours through the tropical forest climbing some very steep paths on a circular route. We then rode bikes back to the boat. The boat took us to another area where we kayaked about 1 1/2hr to very quiet, peaceful lagoons.

We returned to our junk and headed for Cat Ba Island. We passed by a large floating village. We spent the night in a large hotel on the island. The following day we took the junk back through the bay to the larger boat and returned to Ha Long Wharf and on to Hanoi.

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