Taya Starling

A bumpy 4 hour van ride from Hanoi is Ha Long Bay and although I had my doubts as I was popped up and down out of slumber on the car ride there, it’s every bit as beautiful as all the pictures I have seen. Even more beautiful actually because I could actually feel the breeze off the ocean, dip my toes in the jade green water, & imagine what the world must have been like when this bay earned its name.

The name Ha Long Bay means “descending dragon” and comes from an old fable about the Gods sending dragons down to earth to help the Vietnamese fend off invaders.  These dragons spit out jewels and jade which turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. When you’re drifting leisurely through Ha Long Bay, this story seems totally plausible. The tiny uninhabited limestone islands are scattered but plentiful and in any given direction there are so many standing near and far that it seems as if you are completely surrounded by an island chain wall.

At the recommendation of a family friend we booked a night on the Pelican Cruise to sail through Ha Long Bay and explore its hidden grottos, caves, and beaches. The cruise ship was a nice 3 story boat with 22 air-conditioned guest rooms, a tiny but adequate spa, a diningroom, and a deck full of tables and lounge chairs and equipped with a bar.

 The rooms really were all that you’d need to live comfortably on a boat for a night or two… and who needs much with a constantly shifting killer view of Ha Long Bay right out your window?

The trip began with a lunch buffet as we began our journey from the dock out into the emerald-green water. After a relaxing amount of sailing along taking 100 pictures we anchored and prepared to head off on a mini little kayaking adventure.

 Being the photo obsessed, camera strapped tourists we are, we opted to be paddled around rather than kayak ourselves. A bit spoiled? Yes. But every bit worth it? Yes.

The poor kayakers had no idea where to go and seemed much too busy trying to avoid hitting each other or the grotto stalagmites to fully enjoy the view. We on the other hand got some great photos (:  

After our little boating adventure we returned to the boat for a quick trip towards one of the larger islands that actually has a baby sized beach. Seriously I think it was about the size of a regular Starbucks complete with chairs and trash, but no perks of Vietnamese coffee. Since the litter deterred us from going in the water with the rest of our cruise goers, we decided to climb the steep unmarked stairs behind the beach.

Not only did we discover a killer view but we found a cage full of poor bored monkeys. After attempting some conversation and a little feeding, both of which were relatively unsuccessful, we headed back down to catch the sunset through the islands.

Initially I figured there wouldn’t be much to do at night on the boat with no view to photograph (and no televisions on board), but I couldn’t be more wrong. First they had a mini cooking lesson set up for us on the top deck where we learned how to make Vietnamese spring rolls- the highlight was really listening to the Spanish couple onboard try to explain tacos, burritos, and tortillas to our Vietnamese guide who has most likely never had Mexican or Spanish food in her life. Then we enjoyed a bit of happy hour which really meant $3 for two local beers which we tried mostly in honor of my Dad before heading down for dinner.

After dinner there were two choices- either you could go up to the deck to watch a documentary about Ha Long Bay or you could try your hand at squid fishing off the back of the boat. OF COURSE we tried squid fishing. I am sad to report however that the only thing I caught was a cold. We did see a few small flying fish and plenty of jellyfish though.

And did I mention that it was almost full moon? With all the cruise boats docked in the same bay for the night and the full moon hanging heavy over us, we couldn’t help but enjoy the night air for a bit.

The next morning after sleeping in through Tai- Chi on the deck at 6:30am, we were up at 7am ready to tackle the cave adventures for the day. What we anticipated to be a little cave visit turned into a massive grotto exploration of the Sung Sôt or Surprise Grotto on Bo Hòn Island.  The grotto can only be reached by climbing about 100 steps (i recommend sneakers), but trust me the view of Ha Long Bay from above alone is worth the hike.

Once you’ve entered, the cave is partitioned into two chambers; the first is a wide hall, with lots of stalactites hanging from the high ceiling- that’s right, who paid attention in science class?!

A narrow passage leads to the second chamber, which opens up into a massive room with a maze of formations, stalactites, stalagmites, and little pools of water. The light is half natural, filtering in from above through a large opening creating a natural skylight and half disco lighting from what I assume is the 70s or 80s judging by the choice of lighting colors.

We lost our group for a while so we missed a lot of the folklore and story telling that revolves around the different rock formations but they’re pretty easy to spot- tiger heads with flowing manes of limestone, old men lifting boulders but made of rock themselves, fish, monkeys, and all kinds of other images linger in the party lighting and cool cave temperatures.

After the cave explorations we returned to the ship for showers and lunch as we cruised our way back to Ha Long Dock.

 All in all, a totally worthwhile trip to get out of loud and crazy Hanoi for a little relaxation & exploration- my favorite kind of adventuring (:

BTW in Ha Long Bay…