Halong Bay 05-06 Dec

Literally translated it means “decending dragons” and is definitely my personal fav of Vietnam. The Gulf of Tokin features more than two thousand vegetation-covered limestone islands and even after having seen a lot during my trip, the beauty of the area is truly amazing. 

Halong Bay

Some travellers opt to skip Halong Bay but I cant understand how you could miss this World Heritage Site (geologically and for natural beauty). The scenery reminds me of the 007-classic“The man with the golden gun“, shot in the Chinese Sea.

I paid $68 for a 2-day-trip which seemed a bit steep considering my 3-day-trip in the Mekong Delta was just $33. But the scenery made it well worthwhile. Just sitting on the bow (king of the world-style) with a cold one in your hand on a sunny day watching the islands pass by is worth all the trouble.

Allegedly we had the best vessel of the company’s fleet which reflected in the way the cabins were decorated and equipped.

Our Boat

There was an odd number of people on the boat and so I had my own private room with a/c hot water and several swastikas for “good luck”. Usually you get the please-use-as-little-water-as-possible-speech from the captain, but no one uttered a word concerning water consumption. Therefore you can go swimming as frequently as you feel like with a hot shower afterwards. Also the vessel’s several storeys serve well for jumping into the big blue.

my room on the boat

I made friends with two couple and we would always share the same table for dinner. One was a vegetarian and two weren’t too fancy trying “new” seafood and so all the goodies were left for us two. A typical meal would consist of fruits, several types of vegetables, sweet potatoes, fried prawns, clams, battered squid, chicken stir-fry and some other meat like fish, pork or beef. Definitely the best food I had in Vietnam and in such quantity that we only managed to eat half of what was served.

Hang Sung Sot are the most famous caves in Halong Bay and you could easily tell by the number of people that go there. It is on the itinerary of every trip and therefore the most crowded place in an otherwise tranquil area. The walls are lit in different colours adding some nice feel to the caves.

Hang Sung Sot Caves

view from the caves

After that we had one hour to kayak around the many islands ourselves. A truly mind-blowing atmosphere and the highlight of Halong Bay. It always fascinates me what distances you can cover in a kayak in just a short amount of time.