Halong Bay

Spending the night on a boat in Halong Bay was the final adventure of the trip. We were instructed to bring only a backpack or small bag containing only what we would need for two days and a night. The hotel in Hanoi would keep the rest of our luggage until our return.

After a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived in a vast area where all the buildings, apparently, had been leveled. The intention, it seemed, was to rebuild the neighborhood into a tourist mecca, but for now there is just emptiness.

We disembarked at a busy marine terminal where we boarded a small boat which took us to the larger boat where we would spend the night.

Thousands of limestone karsts are scattered across the approximately 600 square miles of Halong Bay. It'a an amazing sight, but, unfortunately, the water is heavily polluted and there is a lot of floating debris. We were told there is a program that rewards boat operaters for collecting trash from the water, but it doesn't seem to be working.

After a pleasant lunch, the more adventurous group members went off to paddle kayaks, but Walt and I were content to lounge on the larger boat. We had been told that we would be able to swim in the bay, but after seeing the water, all thoughts of a swim were abandoned. There was an unintentional dunking due to a kayak mishap, but I don't think anyone intentionally entered the water.

Ha Long is translated as "descending dragon" According to legend, a family of dragons was sent by the gods to assist the Vietnamese thousands of years ago when they were fighting off Chinese invaders. The dragons spat out rocks which formed a protective barrier.

Several other boats spent the night in close proximity to ours, but after dark everything was quiet and peaceful.

After a hazy morning, the skies cleared and we got some good pictures of the karsts as we sailed back to the dock.