Ha Long Bay

The bus dropped us off at 7am in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem district.  We waited for our hotel pick up and presently one of the guys came by on his scooter and all three if us sputtered into the Hanoi morning rush hour.  Our driver, nonplussed by the extra load of two passengers plus baggage, was diligently using a toothpick whilst weaving through the mire of traffic one-handed.

Back at the hotel we checked that our bikes and panniers were still secure, then went for a quick noodle soup breakfast before waiting for the Ha Long tour bus.  We didn't have to wait long and once it had picked everybody up, our guide introduced himself in good but accented English.  He told us that his name was 'Hoang' but that he should be called 'Tony' for ease.  Our itinerary was explained and we settled into the four hour journey, broken only by a half hour stop at what I'd describe as a roadside tourist supermarket.

Outside were displayed marble sculptures which could be shipped to anywhere in the world.  Inside were rows of girls working on embroidery and it looked like some kind of souvenir sweatshop.  There were all other kinds of paraphernalia which the multitudes of sales assistants offered to eager tourists blinded by this souvenir nirvana.

Our bus driver was a man in a hurry, weaving out into the opposite lane to perform tight overtaking manouevres and slotting back into gaps just before oncoming trucks thundered past.  Honking the horn seemed to stand for 'out of the way, I'm coming through' and almost everybody was at it.

On reaching Ha Long we boarded our tour boat and were taken out into the bay for our first look at the amazing limestone karst scenery.  There were hundreds of limestone islands in the bay and also seemingly hundreds of tour boats.  Ha Long Bay translates as the Bay of the Descending Dragon and the legend goes that the limestone islands were created by Dragons who assisted the King of Vietnam to resist warring invaders.

 

 

We moored and were given time to explore the bay further in kayaks, which allowed us to visit the floating villages.  These were basically collections of floating shacks and huts where people lived and farmed fish as well as selling goods from the front of their homes or from boats.

Our evening entertainment turned out to be squid fishing by lamp from our boat and then a beer-fuelled karaoke session, which seemed to be what all the other tour boats were doing by the cacophony drifting across the bay.