Halong Bay

While we were in Hanoi, we booked a two-day, one-night visit to Halong Bay, which is a World Heritage site off the northeastern coast of Vietnam, about a three-hour drive from Hanoi. The trip included an overnight stay on a boat.

There is no good way to truly describe how beautiful Halong Bay is. There are thousands of islands and sheer cliffs of limestone rising out of the water. It almost appears to be a forest of trees and stone growing out of the sea. And it is so quiet and tranquil. There were times when we could hear nothing but the lapping of water against the boat and the cry of nearby birds.

Here is a picture of Halong Bay. The wooden boats in the foreground are typical of the boat we were on for two days.



The first day,we left Hanoi at 8 a.m. and were on the boat and setting off by noon. We cruised the bay for a while, and then we stopped at a place called ‘Surprise Cave’ – it’s a huge cave in the middle of one of the limestone islands. There were stalagmites and stalactites galore, and all sorts of beautiful colors and shades of light inside. Later in the afternoon, we stopped at another island, where there was a steep climb up 480 steps or so to a pagoda and a viewing area. From there, the boat docked further out in the bay and we were able to jump off the side and go swimming in the sea. We were there as the sun set in a stunning blend of purples and oranges. Then we had dinner and sat out on the deck in the early evening with a bottle of wine.

Quite a nice experience. It was one of the highlights of our travels in Vietnam.