Hanoi - Halong Bay - A Cave and Some Rocks

After 2 days of the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, it's time to head out for a road trip out of town! We were off to the spectacular Halong Bay, Vietnam's natural wonder inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Halong Bay consists of approximately 3000 incredible limestone islands rising up from the calm crystal waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. And hidden inside some of these serene undisturbed islands lie limestone caves waiting to be discovered.

Morning call came bright and early at 5am and our private van departed Hanoi quite promptly at 6am. The drive to Halong Bay took about 3 hours.

It was raining cats and dogs when we got to Halong Bay! And yet there were already hoards of tourists all waiting eagerly to get on the boats that would take them out to sea. I was a little disappointed ... and hesitant as well, since Halong Bay was hit by killer hailstorms the week before. But still, with the protection of just a raincoat we were packed off into our very own private boat and shipped out to sea!

Thankfully, shortly after we left land, the weather cleared up and the rainbow came out!

Our first stop was Hang Dau Go (Cave of Wooden Stakes). There, again we met with heaps and heaps of tourists (many of them sounded like they're from mainland China) all rushing eargerly up the 90 steps up into the cave. The cave opened into an amazing display of 'colour lighted' stalactites and stalagmites (*i can never remember which one refers to which*). We wondered if these power lighting and tromping tourists are slowly destroying these thingys that have taken thousands of years to form.

tourist boats waiting at the foothill of the Dau Go cave. The many many boats in this area did cause a traffic clog. We had to trespass across another boat just to get to ours.

After exploring the cave, we were off to enjoy the views Halong Bay has to offer.

We paid a 'visit' to this fishing boat... Our guide informed us that a family of about 15 lived on this boat. They had a few varieties of seafood for sale on board. We bought a cuttlefish as an extra for lunch for USD10 and our boatpeople would cook it for us. At USD10, it was obviously a 'tourist' price.

bon appetit!