Ha Long You Been Here?

Vietnam is such a beautiful country.  We have been to the south twice, but for this trip we headed north.  After spending a memorable afternoon and night in Hanoi, we headed to Ha Long Bay, about a 4 hour ride away.  Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site and quite a place to visit.  This spectacular bay is filled with almost 2,000 limestone islands that look like they should be in a James Bond movie.

There is no shortage of cruises to choose from, almost overwhelming in fact.  After much scouring of the internet, we chose Pelican Cruises.  Why?  First, and perhaps most importantly they had staterooms available for the small pre-Christmas slot of time we had.  Secondly, they were well reviewed on TripAdvisor.  While we don’t base EVERYTHING on TripAdvisor, they are a good go-to site for us.  Lastly, they had the perfect stateroom for us: The Royal Suite.

Traveling with 3 adult children meant that we needed 3 staterooms.  The “kids” got a double and a single, while mom and dad got the Royal Suite.  What this meant for us was more room, a larger bathroom, two walls of windows, but most importantly a private veranda towards the bow that could seat the five of us comfortably (once we “migrated” a chair from one of our other rooms.  This private space meant we could easily relax and watch where we were going.  And where we were going was always spectacular.

Getting to Ha Long was easy.  We were picked up at our hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi at 7:30 in the morning in a very nice van that held 7 guests.  About half way to Ha Long we stopped for a toilet break at a place with very nice bathrooms.  They also had a large showroom of Vietnamese crafts, many produced right there.  We left about 20 minutes later and about $250 lighter as we bought a weaving and a lacquer painting that we had shipped via Fed Ex to Singapore.

We arrived at Pelican Cruises office with a bit of organized chaos—as the arrival and departure of 3 boats should be.  Anyway, we got our boat sorted out and we were on our way.   A little time spent in our rooms as we cruised away, then it was time for a buffet lunch in the dining room.

First stop was a pearl farm in which you could kayak the bay or visit the pearl farm and learn about cultured pearls.  We choose the later as 3 of our group were challenged by oncoming colds.  It was interesting to see how they culture pearls, but at the end we enjoyed Vietnamese coffees on a sundeck –time well spent.

After that we steamed to an island that had both a beach for swimming and a climb up to the top for sunset views.  Again, being cold-challenged, we opted to sit on our boat’s rooftop deck, drinking margaritas, and playing Mexican Train dominos—we made the right choice.  While the sunset pictures we saw from others who made the climb to the top were stunning, our sunset was beautiful as were the margaritas and company.

The next day was a real treat.  We had chosen a 3 day/2-night cruise instead of the standard 2 day/1 night one because the shorter one seemed so hectic as you aren’t even on board for 24 hours.  We made the right choice.  What we didn’t realize is that through the magic of good scheduling our boat had both 2-day and 3-day cruisers on it.  What that meant was that for our second day we got on a day-boat as the 2-day passengers headed back to port. 

There are a lot of boats in Ha Long Bay, many times we would count upwards of 20 similar ships.  But it was calm and really didn’t feel crowded.  Because each ship is small, typically about 40 to 50 passengers, it seems intimate.  And the ships chug slowly between stops.  So there is not the feeling of hustle bustle. But what we did on Day 2 was get on a dayboat with 2 other couples (a total of 9 of us) and head to a much more remote area of Ha Long Bay.

The boat we were on held, according to counting seats in the dinning room, about 24 passengers.  So with 9 we could spread out and enjoy our one hour cruise to our first stop, Cua Van village.  And the scenery on the way was wonderful.  We even saw big oceangoing ships a short way away.  But we focused on the steep limestone islands.  They were beautiful up close, but even more stunning through the mist, like a painting.

Cua Van is a floating fishing village.  In 2014 it numbered over 500 residents in about 125 floating homes.  It was then that the government relocated the village over to the mainland.  Why?  Can you imagine over 500 people living without electricity, sanitation, or running water.  Environmentally it took a toll on the area.  Also, there weren’t any schools in the village.  And Cua Van wasn’t the only village, the government relocation impacted a total of seven villages.  But two villages on the bay have been repopulated and Cua Van now numbers about 125 residents.

At Cua Van we got into a bamboo sampan boat with a fisherwoman that took us around the village.  Between the homes there are floating pens that raise fish, groupers and red snappers are the prevalent fish.  This concept of aquaculture is fairly new and seems to work for them.  The houses are very minimal, maybe 5 or 6 meters square.  It was not unusual for a dog to be tied up nearby. The docks were supported by large plastic blue barrels.  These same barrels could be found on the dock to store water brought over from the mainland.

The fishing boats were unusual, at least to us.  They were painted turquoise with other bright highlight colors.  There were outriggers that could be spread out to handle drift nets.  And strung above the gunnels were large glass lightbulbs that would be used for night fishing.  To the fishermen in the village these boats were a tool they needed to make a living.  To me they were works of art placed in a remote village.

We paired with another sampan as we were rowed around the village.  Our rowers also had small, round fishing nets at the end of a long pole that they used to snag trash floating in the water.  Part of me felt this was an attempt to tug at our heartstrings a bit, but putting the cynic on me aside, I hope this is indicative of a change in attitude—let’s hope so.

We ended up back at the dock after about 45 minutes and then toured a small museum telling the history of the village, its relocation, as well as its fishing and folklore history.  They also had pictures about an American pilot shot down in 1964.  I still find it surprising how this country now has such a strong tourism tie to the US.

After lunch and a swim, we headed to Hang Tien Ong, a cave which we didn’t know what to expect.  The 9 of us and our guide Tom were the only ones there.  This archeological site was first used by man 10,000 years ago.  Today a lighted trail takes you through this cave with stalactites and stalagmites.  At one point Tom took us off the formal trail into a craven that had stalactites that he could actually play a percussion piece.  We then had an hour trip back to our main boat.

When we got back there was a whole new group of passengers on board.  They had done the pearl farm and were preparing to do the climb up to a viewing platform.  We however headed to the rooftop deck for more margaritas and some Mexican Train.  That, and another sunset.

The next morning was a trip to a cave called Hang Sung Sot.  A tender took us over where we climbed steps to the cave entrance.  While on day two we saw few people, today we were with a lot winding up the steps and paths in the cave.  The cave consisted of three chambers filled with stalactites and stalagmites.  Each chamber got larger as we walked through the cave.  In the second chamber was a pink lit rock mentioned in Atlas Obscura.  The final chamber was huge.  It felt like something you would see at Disneyland

We were so happy that we did the 3-day cruise.  This middle day was a real gift.  Somewhat off the tourist track, the bays were empty of people and boats.  And when we did see people, they were not tourists.  (OK, one exception.  On the way out to Cua Van we saw several speedboats swerving through wakes, full of yelling Chinese tourists.  But they disappeared quickly.)

Ha Long Bay is a beautiful place that should be visited.  By all means spend the little extra and do the 3-day cruise.  This is a relaxing trip where you are always seeing stunning views, everywhere you looked.