A trip to Ha Long Bay is a must-do for any visitor to Vietnam. The huge landscpe of limestone mountains rising up from the sea is like nowhere else on Earth; truly one of our planet’s great spectacles. The best way to see the area is by a liveabord boat trip, usually either 2 days/1 night or 3 days / 2 nights.
When looking to book this trip I did a fair bit of research first. It seemed the quality of tours could vary massively, from 5-star luxury to downright unsafe. I also read that Ha Long was becoming a victim of its own success in that the areas popular with tours are becoming choked with boat traffic and the waters strewn with rubbish and pollution.
All of this led me to discover Bai Tu Long bay. The area next to Ha Long features the same landscape as its mother (the legend is that the bays are the resting place of a mother and baby dragon who came to help Vietnam fight its enemies and decided to stay upon seeing the beauty of the country) but crucially this bay is only visited by a tiny handful of companies, meaning it’s pristine, unspoilt and there are very few boats around. Tourism is much better without the other tourists so we decided to book a trip to Bai Tu Long instead.
We booked with Indochina Junk on one of their Dragon Pearl boats (they have three). We chose a three day, two night tour which would allow us to get further out into the bay and enjoy some things you couldn’t get on the standard two day, one night trip. We booked through the website and the cost was $310 each – a bit more than our standard Asian budget would allow but we had always planned to have some extra money available for special trips.
Incidentally the one stain on this company’s reputation was that they sent me an email before we went on the trip, saying we were forbidden to discuss the price we had paid with the other customers on board – otherwise we would have to be charged ‘full price’ (we got offered a $20 discount off the full price initially). This seemed a cheap move, and whether it was because we had paid more or less than the others we wouldn’t know, but if you are trying to run an allegedly luxury operation then to ask this of customers is surprisingly unprofessional. (And sod you anyway, Ms Nguyen Le Chi, I’ve published it now)
Back to the much more interesting matter of the actual trip anyway! We rolled off an overnight train to Hanoi at about 6.30am and had arranged to be picked up at a hotel next door. We were waiting with a big group of other backpackers who were also waiting for a Ha Long Bay tour. They got very hopeful when our transport arrived and soon turned green with envy when it wasn’t for them. The luxury minibus that took us to the coast was pimped out with huge cream leather seats and plush carpets; very welcome knowing we had a four hour drive to the coast.
We arrived a Halong Bay City to check in for the boat, got our luggage tagged up and met a few fellow passengers whilst we waited to board.
There is another shadowy policy of Indochina Junk in that they are very cagey about whether you can bring alcohol on board. Meals are included but you have to pay for booze at the bar. They say you can’t bring your own drink to dinner (fair enough) but make no mention of whether you can have a few beers in your room. I asked a few people, both the aforementioned booking agent and staff at the offices, but never received a straight answer.
In the end I did it anyway. I went to a shop and picked up six beers and we never got checked or asked about it at all. Only slight problem was no fridge in the rooms to keep them cold!
I’ll end my bitching now because once we boarded and kicked off the trip was awesome. The boat was small enough to get to know everyone else, there were 14 people including ourselves. The rooms were fabulous, with free kimonos included!
And the landscape…
Well nothing can really compare to sailing through the bay with huge limestone mountains looming out of the water and making you feel an insignificant speck on the landscape. It was misty and drizzly (North Vietnam doesn’t have the best Februarys) but it just added to the atmosphere. It felt like exploring the land that time forgot, or travelling to Jurassic Park. Incredible.
Our main activity on the trip was kayaking around the bay. Cruising around and exploring the structures up close was great, hammering home the scale of the karsts even more. The crew even had free dry-bags which you could borrow for keeping a camera in.
On the second day we hit a small beach, although the temperature still wasn’t tan-worthy. The main entertainment was provided by our Aussie companions Jason & Sarah’s epic sandcastle building skills.
The food for the entire trip was exceptional. Every lunch and dinner was a 5+ course affair, with lots of small local dishes and great seafood. Dinner on night number two was the highlight however, taking place inside a cave in one of the mountains. It was conveniently also Valentine’s Day too, a coincidence perhaps but I will still take all the romanticism points that come my way for that!
On the final morning we visited a floating village in the middle of the bay. Many people used to live on the islands of the bay, but were relocated by the government to protect the landscape. The floating village had fish and pearl farms, a school and even road names – quite interesting to see even if we didn’t buy any expensive pearls.
We checked out afterwards and as we were cruising back into Halong City something magical happened, we saw the sun! After two days of pure cloud we had almost forgotten what it looked like but at least we had a small time to enjoy the sun deck, and I could get some less misty photos of the landscape.
Back on land we made the long trip back to Hanoi, stopping along the way for a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show. Personally I found it a bit of a waste of time but Ali enjoyed it. I guess there is no accounting for taste.
We were dropped back in Hanoi with a couple of days left before ringing in the Vietnamese New Year: TET!