More Halong Bay

I took a lot of photos during the three days in Halong Bay.  None portray the natural beauty of the area.  By the way, while I keep referring to Halong Bay, that was only one of the three bays I visited on this trip.  I also visited a part of Bai Tu Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay.

I can't stress enough that if you are going to Halong Bay - do the 3 day cruise!  The drive to and from the Bay is long and pretty boring.  Most on our bus (including myself) either read or napped during most of the drive.  The scenery was forgettable, at best.  If you just do the overnight cruise you get on the boat, kayak, have dinner, sleep, have breakfast, visit a cave and go back to Hanoi.  On the three day, I got to have an entire day on a nice boat with 3 crew members and two other passengers.  We visited a pearl farm and a floating village and spent the rest of the day just doing as we liked.  We dropped anchor and kayaked.  We had lunch on the boat.  We had the option of swimming and exploring a deserted beach.  It was the best part of the cruise.

Here are some more photos.

The fog just added to the beauty.

We were entering the "sleeping zone" for night two.  All the boats drop anchor in one area each night.  On night one, one boat was having a very loud karaoke party which totally destroyed my fantasy of peace and quiet on the water.  Luckily, they turned down the music before midnight.  Apparently it was a charter boat, not a regular cruise.

This boat anchored next to us was one of the larger boats.  I preferred the smaller boat I was on.

Locals still live and work on the water along with all the tourist boats.

On day two we dropped anchor for lunch near this secluded beach.

This guy is half of the fun couple I spent my day with on the "small" boat.  As you can see, it's not so small.

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The next few photos are of our visit to the floating village.  Due to government changes, the life of these people has changed significantly.  They live on their boats but must find work outside of their village to support themselves.

Many are squid fishermen, which is why this boat has the lights - used to attract the squid at night.

The

Cleaning oysters all day.  A great view and all the oysters you can eat but I don't think I could do it.  BTW, we were talking about eating oysters and they were shocked that I ate raw oysters.  They only eat them cooked.

They showed us what the oysters looked like at different ages.  Since it was only 3 of us and our tour guide it didn't feel like a "tour", which was nice.

This is one of the biggest ships, with lots of balconies.

The same boat, from a distance.

The sails look nice but are only decorative.

Just a few of the boats anchored near us for the night.  It was the morning of day three and all the boats were getting ready to depart.

Halong Bay

After several days relaxing in Hanoi, I moved on to Halong Bay.  I'd talked to several friends who'd been there and all said it was a highlight of their time in Vietnam.  I booked my trip on the "new" Swan Cruises.  I put "new" in quotes because while the company was new, the boat was not.  Not that it mattered - it was in good shape and very clean.

I was picked up at my hotel and joined the rest of the cruisers in a small bus.  Ironically the bus was identical to our school buses at Ayeyarwaddy International School.  We had plenty of room and the 4 hour plus trip gave us some time to get to know each other a bit.  It was an eclectic group of 3 singles, a few couples and ages ranging from early 20's to...me.  Our guide was friendly and helpful but not overbearing and didn't feel it necessary to talk the entire way to Halong.

I was looking forward to the drive to see a bit of the countryside but was a bit disappointed.  I saw very few scenes that made me want to yell "Stop the bus!" so I could take a photo.  We had one rest stop along the way for about 30 minutes.  The rest stop was a sign of what was to come.  The large store/toilet facilities were packed with others on buses to Halong Bay.

Let me say upfront that I took a lot of photographs.  None of them do justice to the sheer beauty that is Halong Bay.  The water is neither clear nor does it appear clean.  We were never in a place where we didn't have at least one (or 30) other boats in sight.  But it is amazingly beautiful.  Peaceful.  The kind of place that made me smile and feel like I could breathe a bit deeper.  Here are some of my very inadequate photos.

Before we get to the scenery of Halong Bay, check out this cup and saucer.  Notice anything different?  The cup holder is a bit offset so there's room for cookies.  Handy!

Our tour guide on the bus.

Unfortunately, that wasn't fog as we crossed the river leaving Hanoi.  It was smog.

Just a few of the other buses waiting for their tourists during our rest stop.

We took a small tender to the mother ship.  Seriously, that's what they called it.  I felt like I was about to be beamed up every time they said it.

I never even considered staying in the town where the boats dock for Halong Bay but would the next time I visit.  It's got an amusement park and they're building a very long suspended cable car route.

Once on the mother ship we were given bottles of water, cool clothes and greeted in the dining room for lunch and orientation.  There were no safety lessons.

A few of the other boats picking up passengers.  All boats are on the same schedule and go the same routes.  The only real difference is if you choose 1 night or 2 - and whether you want to spend that night on the boat or on Cat Ba island.  I chose 2 nights, both on the boat.  I was VERY happy with my choice.

We saw a number of new, modern hotels as we sailed off to Halong Bay.

My cabin on Swan Cruises.  It is considered a double.  One couple complained that it was too small but since most people only carried back packs with them I think it was fine.

The bathroom was both larger and nicer than I expected.  The shower was awesome - and had a great view of the Bay.  Of course, with all the neighboring boats, that meant everyone also had a view of you as you showered.

In case you are from a real mother ship, this is a toilet.

The water in the bathroom was fresh and had plenty of water pressure and hot water.

Beautiful views from my cabin.

The dining room was surrounded by windows.

Food on board was varied, plentiful and delicious.  One of the big differences among different tour companies is the quality of food.  The Swan was at the upper end.  They also accommodated those who didn't eat meat or seafood.

The views went on forever.

Our captain.

Just to prove I was actually there.  I was there in late October and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Another view from my cabin.  I was sitting on my bed, watching the karsts go by.

There were several opportunities for kayaking, which was included in the tour price.  Unfortunately, you had to kayak only with the group.

On the top deck there was ample seating.  Everyone gathered there at sunset and the crew provided snacks and beverages.

I don't know whose house this is but I'd like to live there.

Evening, as we pulled in to the area where all the boats anchor at night.

Hard to express how beautiful it was.

The chef put on a somewhat cheesy but fun cooking demonstration.

We found out the smoke detectors were in working order.  :)

I didn't get up for the early morning (6 a.m.) tai chi on the top deck but the view when I did get up was lovely.