Here we
opted not to take the journey into Hanoi. Instead we wanted to spend the day on
a junk boat tour amongst the karsts.
Ha Long Bay, situated in the Gulf
of Tonkin, includes some 1,600 islands and islets forming a spectacular
seascape of limestone pillars. Because of their precipitous nature, most of the
islands are uninhabited and relatively unaffected by human influence.
The geomorphology of Ha Long Bay is known as a drowned karst
landscape due to the exceptional combination of its limestone karst features
which have been subject to repeated regression and transgression of the sea
over geological time. The limestones of Ha Long Bay have been eroded into
a mature landscape of fengcong (clusters of conical peaks) and fenglin
(isolated tower features) karst features, modified by sea invasion at a later
stage. The smaller islands are fenglin towers of 50m to 100m high with height.
Many have vertical walls on all or most sides and these continue to evolve by
rock falls and large slab failures.
Ha Long Bay is literally
translated as "Bay of Descending Dragons. The tranquil emerald green
waters and the captivating vistas of the seemingly countless jutting limestone
mountainous islands will soothe the soul and stimulate the senses. Few places
in the world offer a more breath-taking glimpse of the awesome creativity of
Mother Nature. The Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site is universally recognized
for the significance of its exceptional geology and distinctive biodiversity,
and the rich culture of the local people adds to the charm and enchantment of
cruising the bay.
Today I had booked a private
Deluxe Junk Tour with included lunch
with Viet Circle.
Here is
a description of our tour: “8 hour private boat trip to enjoy the beauty of Ha
Long with: Sung Sot (Surprise) Cave, Me Cung Cave, Fairy Lake or
Trong Cave, Trinh Nu, Bo Nau. Visit Titop Island,
climb to the top of the hill on the island and enjoy the amazing panoramic view
over the Ha Long Bay. Lunch on the boat. Cruise leisurely back to the harbor
passing Luon Cave. You will on the boat about 5-6 hours and on land 2-3 hours
for visiting caves/island.”
Today we were joined by Rick & Jane, Marianne,
Dale & Janet, Jeff & Julie, Tom & Sherrie, Bonnie & Dennis,
Gary & Bev, Jeff & Pauline and Linda. It was a large boat for just the
18 of us, but probably was a good number for comfort and lots of space. (20
would be the max I’d recommend on a boat that size. It was a fun group and a
very enjoyable day.
For some reason we were over an hour late
getting off the ship. Our guide Tran was there waiting for us. (had been for a
couple of hours in case we got off early). The ship tour that was supposed to
meet at 6:45 didn’t leave until 8:30 or something like that. They had to skip
several things as Princess did not extend their tour in Hanoi.
Tran talked to our boat driver and since we
were about an hour late he extended our tour to not miss anything. The last
tender boat wasn’t until 7:00 so getting back 5ish instead of 4ish was fine.
The Princess tours that went into Hanoi had long drives in each direction so
had less leeway. We only sailed away about a half hour late.
The day was warm and misty. Mist kind of adds
to the mystique of this interesting and beautiful landscape. It was a calm peaceful
day sailing between the karsts. We kept expecting flying dragons to glide out at any minute. Lots of interesting boats going about their
daily lives and floating fishing villages dotted the landscape. Sometimes small
boats selling fruits came up to the Junk and a few people bought bananas. There
were ladies on board selling jewelry and other trinkets. We passed by karsts
that looked like a dog or a cat etc.
We stopped at Hang Sun Sot Cave (aka Surprise
Cave). It is situated in the center of the UNESCO-declared World Heritage area
on Bo Hon Island. It is one of the finest and widest grottoes of Ha Long Bay.
The grotto covers some 10,000m2. Inside the grotto there have thousands of
stalactites and stalagmites along the 500-meter paved passage. At the side of
the entrance, the rock seems to form the shape of a horse with a long sword.
Legend has it, that after having defeated the aggressors, Thanh Dong (Saint
Dong) helped the population to chase away evil spirits and demons. After this
feat, Saint Dong flew to heaven, leaving a stone horse and sword to continue to
keep the demons away.
There were quite a few steps to climb, but it
was well worth the effort. Absolutely beautiful. The rooms were huge and very
interesting.
After the cave we were served a nice lunch on
board. We were given a choice to eat while sailing and see a couple more caves
or to sit and float calmly while we ate. I was up for more caves, but most
weren’t.
Lunch items were steamed shrimp, Ha Long Spring
Roll (my favorite), deep fried squid, fried fish with tomato sauce (also quite
mild and tasty), fried potatoes, steamed rice, and bananas for dessert.
We were scheduled for an hour or two at Titop Island,
but some of us opted to take a speed boat to a bamboo boat rowed by an adorable
Vietnamese lady that would take it through a tunnel into a lagoon where there
were lots on monkeys. It was a lot of fun and the monkeys were adorable.
Another boat pulls up and Jeff joked it was like a floating mini-mart like
Circle K or 7-11. They sold snacks that we could eat or feed to the monkeys.
Greg bought some cookies to throw and Julie bought an apple to cut up and
throw. They went crazy for both. It was fun to watch them play and eat and you
could hear them talking. They were loud! They were running and sticking to the
side of the cliffs like they had suction cups on their feet. There was a baby
that was just getting the hang of it and he kept slipping and falling, but
never fell in the water.
Then she rowed us around the lagoon. While we
were enjoying the sereneness, all of a sudden the monkey started making a lot
of noise and a few were fighting. Then it got really loud. Then we went back to
the floating dock and got off the bamboo boat and back on the speedboat that
took us to join everyone else who were already at Ti Top Island.
Ti Top
Island is situated about 7- 8km south-east of Bai Chay. The Islet displays a beach shaped
like a crescent moon and sand that has been washed to a snowy white by the
tide.This Island is also one of the best view points in the entire Halong bay.
November
22, 1962, this tiny island had the honour of receiving a visit from astronaut
Ghermann Titov, a hero of the former Soviet Union, accompanied by President Ho
Chi Minh. To perpetuate the remembrance of their visit, Uncle Ho named the
place Ti Top Island. A few of us hiked the 420 steps up to a pavilion at the
summit for a panoramic view of Ha Long
Bay.
We then
sailed about 1.5 hours back to our tender boats to return us to the ship. Some
of the group wanted to be let off at the night market to shop and then walk
back to the tender area. Our guide said no problem and we also stopped to spend
about 15 to 20 minutes at an Oyster Farm where they showed us how to choose
good pearls and showed us how rubies were mined and to spot good rubies. Of
course there were shopping opportunities at the end. One couple did buy a ruby
piece of jewelry.
We had
one unhappy tour mate at this point as she absolutely did not want to make that
stop. She didn’t want to miss the evening cocktail hour and dinner and of
course a shower before all of that. Everyone else wanted to stop so she just
sat on the bus and then came in and made a fuss that we had stayed too long.
We got
back to the ship and could have rushed to clean up for dinner, but we opted to
shower leisurely and went upstairs for the buffet or pizza and wonderful
desserts were served. The show was Kuba Kawnik who played a Vibraphone and a
couple of other interesting instruments. He was very good.
sailing away
Finally to sleep and looking forward to 2 sea days before our next port
in Vietnam.
