Ha long bay

Ha Long Bay is the leading candidate for Seven New Wonders of the World - an amazing, jaw dropping "have to see it to believe it" kind of place. And I had. Seen it. One year earlier, to be exact, while on a business trip and it amazing and my jaw did drop. I wanted S to experience the same thing and I was counting my blessings that I was going to see it again.

Normally we are on a tight, tight backpacker budget that forces us into fan cooled rooms with questionable stains on the walls, the sounds of the noisy street (or beach) keeping us awake. But for this, our one night (well, my second one night) on Ha Long Bay sleeping in a junk boat, for this we decided to splash out a bit. And what a difference that 20 extra dollars can make! The food on my trip last year had been good - a solid good. But this year.....just look.

The first course of lunch. We knew that things were looking good when this plate of humongous shrimp (I like to call'em shramp) were set down in front of us. We peeled these guys and dipped them (who am I trying to kid? I bathed mine...) in the limey, salty peppery mixture you see at the top of this page.

I will let you in on a secret. I like eating squid, octopus and cuttlefish the most when they are purple. I have no idea why. When you place a plate of pale white calamari in front of me my stomach is like "nope" but when I see a piece of tako that is the colour of concord grape juice something in my brain breaks and I become submissive to its charms.

Yes - we are still on lunch! You may recall that I am normally a vegetarian (an ass kickin' food lovin' one) but on this trip I decided to eat fish because frankly, I think they are dicks. The wonderful staff on this boat made us an entirely pescetarian 5-course meal. This was a lovely fish steak smothered in a sort of Vietnamese warm salsa - tomatoes, onions both spring and white, chili and of course, garlic.

Our boat was much nicer than our course backpacker senses were accustomed to. Every thing was dark wood polished to a high sheen - very posh.

We eyed the requisite karaoke machine with suspicion, knowing full well that all of the Da Lat wine and Ha Noi beer was going to loosen us up enough to give it a go. But first, a perfect simple photo of a cold towel in a little laquered basket.

I am really at my very happiest when a meal begins with a vase of jumbo shramp and some carved vegetable flowers. I want every meal to start with these things. Do not be surprised if you come to my house and I present you with a tall refreshing glass of shrimp and a carrot rosette before you're even all the way in the door.

These were in served in a really light broth - mostly clam nectar and garlic and were very delicate and pretty, but....I have had a bad relationship with bivalves since a terrible, horrible, life changing-ly bad bout of food poisoning from mussels a few years ago. Only recently have I been able to even entertain the notion of placing a clam anywhere near my mouth - but these boys made the cut! Cautiously, mind you - I only ate about 5 and even then was terrified to go to sleep, as if they were little clam axe-murderers just waiting for me to relax and close my eyes. For the grand finale: crab shells stuffed with crab cakes. Just when I was feeling a little riced out, a little accosted with lemongrass (I hate the stuff and am pummeled with it daily) they brought these little gems out. Now, I don't harbour any notions that these are in any way Vietnamese other than the fact that the crab lived here, but let me tell you: I was one pinch of Old Bay Seasoning and a little pot of aioli away from sheer bliss.

I will always remember my first time to Ha Long Bay. I will remember the beauty, the eerie calm, the almost spooky way that the karst rock formations jut out from the murky sea. It was magic in the truest sense of the word.

But my second trip? I will think about those tiny limes, the plump shrimp, the delicate blush of an octopus tentacle, the meatiness of the rich crab meat.

And I'll look you straight in the eye and tell you that the first time was more meaningful.

You'll believe me, right?

v

Realated to Ha long bay

Ha Long cruise: Indochinasails: www.indochinasails.com

Ha Long kayaking: www.kayakhalongbay.com

Halong Bay in Northeast Vietnam - This was without a doubt, the highlight of our trip so far!!!

Indochina Sails on Ha Long bay

We organized a 3 day/2 night tour of the bay through travel agent in Hanoi & were collected from our hotel at 8am. From here we drove 3 hours to Halong Bay where we boarded our boat and were immediately treated to a big lunch before being given our room keys (We would spend the first night on their boat & the second night on Cat Ba Island). We then set sail through the most breathtaking scenery imaginably while sitting on deck with a cold beer(s). We stopped at 'Surprising Cave' where we wandered through the many rock formations (Oh how i wish i had brought some beer with me), before we climbed what felt like 342 million steps to a viewpoint overlooking the bay. The view was well worth the effort though. After another 2 hours relaxing on our "junk' boat we dropped anchor, and decided to do some swimming & jumping off the top deck of the boat (Trying to avoid the jellyfish below). This was great crack, well, for us, probably not so much for the 2 guys who got stung. Then it was kayaking for an hour or two and we watched the most amazing sunset from the middle of the bay before returning to the boat for dinner and drinking.

Day 2 began at dawn when we awoke for breakfast before transferring to a smaller boat and heading to Cat Ba island. After rowing to shore, we began our 3 and a half hour hike through the jungle. This was a much tougher trek than Thailand, but was well worth it. We seen more than our fair share of big poisonous spiders, centipedes, stick insects the size of my foot and butterflies the size of bats. We returned to the boat where we spent the afternoon swimming and relaxing. Then it was on to the inhabited side of the island where we checked into our hotel. That night was spent out with the group getting dinner & drinking until we could drink no more (Or at least until the bar closed.... whichever came first). Then the bar closed so we had to leave and go back to our hotel. The final day started off with our complimentary buffet breakfast at 7am (which believe me, i took full advantage of). Having thrown down a full fry, a plate of spaghetti bolognaise (I know, I was surprised to see it there as a breakfast too),a bowl of fruit, juice & coffee, we were back on our boat on our way back to Halong City. We spent the morning sitting on deck, sweating out the alcohol from the night before (Or maybe I just over did it at breakfast). Either way, I wasn’t taking the chance of jumping the water again (I would have sank like a flecking' stone). We returned to port at midday where we had a final lunch before being dropped back to Hanoi.

Source: Travel Blog.

Related to Ha long bay:

Ha Long cruise and tours: http://www.indochinasails.com

Ha Long kayaking: http://www.kayakhalongbay.com

Halong Bay is easily one of the most beautiful places in the world. We spent much of our day standing on one side of the boat with our camera’s out taking about 500 photos each, with every picture looking amazing. Our awesome wooden boat took us through the islands of Halong Bay, which we decided resembled Pirates of the Caribbean, Vietnamese style. We totally expected to see Jack Sparrow pop up and commandeer our ship, not that we would have minded of course!

Indochina Sails

We headed to the caves at first, it was pretty impressive, despite the fact that it was decked out in neon coloured lights, not the most natural lighting design! The best part were the random penguin rubbish bins placed at every corner. The boat continued taking us into the islands, and we eventually stopped and jumped in for a much needed swim! After arriving at Cat Ba Island we had a late dinner before heading to a local nightclub, a teeny little room that had a DJ and a dance floor, with about 6 locals dancing around. So we joined them! After about 3 minutes we had scared them off and were the only ones dancing as most of the locals had gathered around the dance floor to stare at us and film us on their phones. So awkward, so we left! Hannah and I were really feeling the effects of far too much alcohol so we headed back to our room, laid out on the balcony with a few naughty (and disgusting) Cambodian branded cigarettes and blasted Michael Jackson’s Number Ones album for all of Cat Ba to hear!

Slightly hungover the next morning we dragged ourselves out onto the street and looked for something to eat. We were turned away by multiple restaurants, being told that there’s no food or we are not a restaurant (when it clearly was) or just being ignored completely. According to our guide some restaurants on Cat Ba won’t serve Westerners. He didn’t tell us why, and he sure as hell could have told us earlier! After finally finding somewhere that would serve us (and there are places, we just kept picking the ones that wouldn’t, purely out of bad luck) we headed to the local markets which sold such delicacies as sea horse kebabs and geckos on a stick. We took photos and headed right out the door! Our hydrofoil ride back to the mainland was an epic failure. It didn’t show up. So we took a local bus to the other side of the island, grabbed a teeny tiny speed boat to the mainland about 1 hour from the bus station, took a local bus (complete with wobbly head ponies on the dashboard) to that station before jumping on our minivan to get back to Hanoi. Wow, effort!

To have a chance to experience Ha Long bay, please visit website: www.indochinasails.com

Source: Travel Blog

Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh has thousands of islands and many beautiful areas.

Cruise on Ha Long bay by Indochina Sails

For nearly a decade, the nominee for a Natural Wonder of the World title has attracted more tourists since the bridge linking Bai Chay (Chay Beach) and Hon Gai (Gai Islet) was built.

In the bay area, there are many caves, beaches, restaurants, hotels and entertainment sites. Among its well-known scenic spots and tourist sites are Thien Cung, Dau Go and Trinh Nu caves, and Ti Top, Tuan Chau and Ba Trai Dao beaches.

At hotels on Bai Chay, visitors can ask at reception desks to hire tourist ships to visit the bay. You can choose which ship from photos and decide beforehand how long the tour should be and which places to visit or if you will have lunch on board.

The ships usually have sofas on the top deck for tourists to sit and watch the seascape. The deck below has tables and chairs made from precious woods worth billions of dong. Some cruises from big travel agencies also have karaoke rooms and bars.

According to Ha, who is a helmsman, tourist ships have to compete with one another because hundreds of them operate in the bay. A ship is considered successful if it is recommended by its customers. For this reason, tourist ships strictly observe the itinerary and respect customers. Tourist ships usually take people to see Bai Chay Suspension Bridge first and then take them to visit Thien Cung Cave, one of the biggest and most beautiful caves in the bay. If there is time, they will stop at other caves and Ti Top Beach, a beautiful coral beach.

The ships also go past Ga Choi Islet, two rocks which look like roosters fighting each other. The crew normally brings along fresh seafood for customers’ lunch. During the boat tour, you can see small boats selling fish, crabs and shrimp that you can buy and grill them to eat on board. Reported by Phan Huy Tram/ TNnews

Recommended for vessels in Ha Long bay : Indochina Sails & Huong Hai Junk

I know its been a while since I last wrote! Been quite busy with traveling but here is an entry I should have posted ages ago!!!!

On Wednesday the 1st of July we set off for Ha long Bay, we booked a two night three day tour, on a Junk which only had five cabins therefore a maximum capacity of 10 people. A mini van came to pick us up at 8 am and we set off to Ha long city, halfway to Ha long city we stopped at this silk factory thing which sold a lot of souvenirs at very expensive prices, but it seems everyone stops there for the break so we just walked around in boredom for about 20 mins before setting off again. The journey from Hanoi to Ha long City took about three hours. We arrived at Ha long City and then waited for about 15 mins and then we were taken to our Junk!

Ha Long bay sunset by Indochina Sails

The Junk was great beautiful made out of dark wood; our cabin was really nice with big windows so we had a magnificent view as we were going! Soon after setting off lunch was served which was really nice but eating was the Actually turned the boat a little woopp! Last thing on my mind as we started going the view was just so beautiful and I had no idea that it was going to be so beautiful! After lunch we relaxed a bit on the boat just watching the view and relaxing on the deck, in the afternoon we went to do a bit of kayaking and looking out for birds our guide knew all the birds and seemed to really love his job which was great. Afterwards we went back to the boat again and relaxed and then we had dinner which was a whole selection of different things, each course was very well cooked and tasted great the only downside was that there wasn’t enough of it! After kayaking and being in the water everyone was very hungry! The next morning we were up early to kayak again this time to get to a deserted beach where we were going to have a barbecue lunch we kayaked for about 2 hours and then arrived to this adorable tiny little beach where we settled down to have a swim (water was perfect!!) or relax and have a beer while the chef prepared the barbecue. The barbecue was delicious!!! After that we went back on the boat and the boat started moving again to go to the place where we would stop for the night, the sunset was beautiful! Seeing the golden sky through the different islands around the bay was amazing! Since that was our last night the crew made a special dinner for us once again the food was amazing and then they sang some songs for us which was great! The next and last day of our Ha long Bay trip we went to a local fishing village, the company that we used has an agreement with the village and helps them financially as well as making them aware of the importance of keeping the area clean. At the fishing village we were rowed by locals in a little boat around the village where we got to see how life goes on in the village it was a great experience and the village was very pretty. After that we went back onto the Junk had another swim having fun jumping off the boat deck etc, and then we started heading back to Ha long City. Back at Ha long City we got off the boat very sadly as we would have loved to stay on for longer, one of the most peaceful and beautiful tours we have done on our trip so far, it was amazing! Source: Travel Blog

Supported by Huong Hai Junk