From Tam Coc we started early on our journey towards Halong Bay via bus which took around 5hours. We had arranged for the next 3days to go on a boat tour around the bay of islands with a tour company called Vega Travel. This involved staying on a boat for a night in our own little cabin. The second night we spent on the island of Cat Ba in a hotel. The 3days we spent being ferried around the sights of Halong Bay involved lots of activities. Our pick up point was at 12pm at a certain pier by the harbour. Unfortunately when we arrived the weather was absolutely atrocious. The rain was hammering down! With waterproof covers over our heavy bags and raincoats zipped up to our chins, we ran for cover once getting off the bus. The temperature was a little cooler here with the rainy showers and sea mist. We met our tour guide Binh – pronounced like “bean” – who would be taking us on the boat for the following days. Also on board were other groups of holiday makers and backpackers. We became friendly with a group of girls also from the UK.
We disembarked from the harbour at noon and enjoyed a freshly prepared lunch onboard the boat. We then sailed for about an hour, past Halong Bay itself and onto a less tourist infested bay called Bai Tu Long. This bay is visited by much fewer boats and harboured us for the night. Along the way, we marvelled at truly stunning views of hundreds of islands protruding dramatically from the deep blue-green water. When we arrived we launched straight into our first activity, caving. We visited two caves called Trong Cave (Drum cave) and Tring Nu (Virgin cave). During the first cave tour we were told about the legend of Bai Tu Long Bay. The story tells of a mother dragon laying eggs which then hatched forming the hundreds of islands. The purpose of the islands were to protect Vietnam from foreign invaders. The name “Ha Long” means “ascending dragon” in Vietnamese. Whereas Bai Tu long roughly translates into “the dragon parts it’s offspring”. In such a magical setting, it is easy to believe legends such as these. When in Trong cave, we had to duck low to accommodate the low ceiling and even crawl through small crevices to reach larger caverns and passageways. We were told that explorers had believed fairies had lived in the first cave because of the glittering rocks in one cavern. Tree roots and sea shells could also be found within the cave walls. Unfortunately one member of our boat tour group cracked his head off a low ceiling and as expected bled profusely. I had a few handy plasters on me, so managed to patch him up temporarily before returning to the boat for further medical attention. After the cave drama, we returned briefly to the boat to change into swimwear as we would be going kayaking. Swimsuits and life jackets on, Luke and I only bickered at few times on who was rowing what way and who was meant to be steering. Kayaking amongst the skyscraper high limestone islands and sea stacks was really enjoyable, apart from one glaringly obvious intruder, plastic. The sad truth is that even in the quieter waters, plastic pollution has invaded and in mass quantities. As we kayaked through the bay, our little group fished out many plastic bags, bottles, polystyrene, netting and lots of food packaging. I think we filled about 3 big black bags full of rubbish on our return to the kayak pontoon.
Our night on the boat involved a cooking lesson during which we learnt to assemble fresh spring rolls, before then enjoying a delicious meal prepared by the boat staff. After eating we had time to relax and enjoy the sunset with a cocktail. As a group we were challenged to play games by our guide Binh. One game involved holding a bottle cap between your bum cheeks and dropping it into a glass on the ground. Luke walked into the room and volunteered to go first… and succeeded on his first try, meaning the rest of us didn’t have to partake. He enjoyed his prize of a free beer, curtesy of Binh. Another optional activity we could partake in was squid fishing off the back of the boat. Mostly our efforts were completely futile, however one of the girls did manage to wrangle a small squid after much determination and persistence. We slept well in our tiny little cabin for the night.
Our second day involved LOTS of activities, meaning we had to start bright and early at 6.30am. After having breakfast on board, we sailed to Hang Sung Sot Cave, also known as “The Surprising” cave. This was a much larger cave than the two we had visited the day before, in fact it is the largest in all of Halong Bay. It is situated on Bo Hon island. It boasts impressive rock formations and thankfully for the injured member of our crew, it was well lit throughout. A common game to play when in the cave is to try spot animal shapes within the rock formations. Admittedly in some cases this takes a lot of imagination. After climbing what felt like hundreds steps to even reach the mouth of the cave and trooping through around 500metres of passageways, we were all relieved to descend and return to our small tug boat. However our respite from climbing steps was short-lived as our little boat transferred us to Titop Mountain peak. Here, we climbed 340 steps to the viewpoint at the top. Although this was an almighty effort to summon out of our tired bodies at 8am, the 360 views of Halong Bay were well worth the sweat and aching legs. Although tempting, none of us opted to swim on the small beach at the bottom, therefore we moved onto our next activity of the day. This meant boarding our boat again and sailing towards Lan Ha bay. We had to transfer onto another boat after about 30minutes, due to different waterway regulations. This boat took us Lan Ha bay, where we then entered Cat Ba National Park. In the national park we cycled for 30minutes before then trekking through tropical forest paths for the same amount of time. The last part of the trek unfortunately for me involved scrambling up a steep rock face. I managed to keep my vertigo under wraps! From the top we were able to see the small remote village of Viet Ha. After trekking we cycled back to the boat, where we eagerly devoured lunch after expending so much energy throughout the morning. The last part of our activity filled day was kayaking through a quiet bay. Our kayak didn’t seem to want to steer straight which made this a much more effortful activity than we would’ve liked. Along the way we observed floating fishermen villages, guarded by their dogs, as well as fish farms. We also visited a hidden lagoon which was only accessible through a low arch way. After returning the boat around an hour later, Luke amongst others jumped from the boat roof into the green water. I was peer pressured into it, along with a lovely Danish lady we had met along the way, so holding hands we launched ourselves into the freezing water. Our chanting from the water psyched up our tour guide Binh enough to coax him in for a swim as well. The refreshing dip helped boost the energy levels. We arrived at Cat Ba island late afternoon and were driven part of the way to our hotel. A local festival was in full swing, meaning some of the roads were closed, so we had to walk for around 10minutes to reach the hotel. The evening was our own free time to do what we pleased. Luke, Mark and myself, were joined by the group of English girls for dinner at a nearby restaurant called Oasis. Somehow we managed to squeeze two free beers each out of the management staff, who seemed delighted to have us in his restaurant. His persistence to try get us to go to a nightclub afterwards however very much failed, as we all had an early start before our last day on the boat tour.
I think we all slept well after such an action packed 24hours the previous day. Thankfully our last day on board the boat involved merely relaxing whilst we were ferried back to the harbour. The weather was grey and dull but was still warm enough to sit up above on a lounge chair. By noon we reached the harbour and said goodbye to the boat crew. We had arranged a bus transfer to Hanoi through the tour company that took 3hours or so to reach the massive city. There we said goodbye to Binh, but not before he’d tried to teach us some Vietnamese, which I have now all forgotten! It was very confusing.
Gone Travelling 
Leave a comment