Halong Bay

Halong Bay in Vietnam is, without question, among the most scenic sights in the world. The bay consists of nearly 2,000 different limestone islands that rise spectacularly from the ocean. Incredibly stunning.

Amy and I spent three days and two nights on a “junk” boat cruising through the bay. (The term “junk” refers to the Ancient Chinese style of vessel that is found throughout the bay, not the age or quality of our boat. Our boat was anything but junky.) Fitted with multiple private bedrooms, our boat “Bai Tu Long” had ten other travellers onboard. We spent our days sailing amongst the limestone islands, exploring and rafting through caves, visiting floating villages, and doing a bit of kayaking. Tough to beat.

Of the people onboard for our first night, we were the only ones who were staying two nights on the boat. (The rest were either returning to Hanoi after one night or spending their second night at a nearby hotel.) On the morning of our second day, while our boat took the others to their next destination, a different boat picked Amy and I up for the day… and we had the entire boat to ourselves. It was a gorgeous boat with a crew of four---and we were the only two guests. We felt like we were living a life of luxury---if only for a short day. (We returned to our original boat later that evening.)

The kayaking in Halong Bay is incredible; we paddled through several different caves and emerged in lagoons surrounded by huge limestone peaks. Very cool. The downside, however, is that the water in Halong Bay is far from clean. It’s obvious that many of the junk boats (and perhaps the floating villages) dump a lot of their waste into the water. Definitely a huge shame, and it kept us from swimming in the water.

You can see all of our Halong Bay pictures here, along with photos from the rest of Vietnam. After Halong Bay, we had originally intended to take the night train to Sapa (in Northern Vietnam). But we changed our plans last-minute and are headed instead to the mountain town of Dalat, where we intend to bike, hike, and abseil in the surrounding area there. Will fill you in soon...