Vietnam North to South – Day 4: Arriving in Hạ Long Bay

We left Ninh Bình at quarter to eight and rode almost 200 kilometres to Hạ Long Bay. Known for its many limestone islets, the bay is a very popular destination: there are around five hundred boats providing transport and accommodation to tourists. The bay’s name means “Descending Dragon.” Legend has it that when fighting off foreign invaders, the local Vietnamese were aided by dragons who spat jade into the water to form a defensive wall. Seeing the beautiful landscape they created, the dragons decided to settle down, and they live in the bay to this day.

We arrived in the harbour of Hạ Long late in the morning and took a small boat to ferry us over to the ship where we would spend the night. During lunch, the ship started to move, towing the little boat behind us as we watched the beautiful limestone outcrops pass by on our left and right. Our ship formed part of a string of vessels headed to the most popular tourist stop in the bay.

From our new outpost, we took our little boat to Bồ Hòn Island, which is home to three caves. Each of these is larger than the last, culminating in the so-called “Surprise Cave,” which extends deep into the mountain and contains giant stalactite and stalagmite formations. Visitors to these caves like to spot different shapes made by geological processes; one can find a dragon, a turtle, and even a penis, which has been lit in red to make sure people do not miss it.

Our second stop for the day was the island Ti Tốp, named after the Soviet Cosmonaut Gherman Titov. The place is popular among tourists for its beach as well as its lookout over Hạ Long Bay; one has to climb over four hundred steps to reach the top, but by the time we got there, the brightening sun hid behind the clouds and did not come out for the rest of the day. Still, the view was spectacular and well worth the jostling. The New Year’s holidays are, of course, still in full swing, meaning every tourist attraction gets a fair share of visitors not only from Vietnam but also from the rest of East Asia.

A boat in the bay
A fisherman's boat
Ha Long Bay in the mist
Slightly better weather
Bluer skies above Ha Long
A temple in a rock
Stalagmites
The strange ceiling of the cave
A massive stalagnate
The same
A phallic stalagmite
A full view of the cave
A bay within Ha Long Bay
The view from the top of Ti Tốp
The same
A ship in the night

Comments

Post a Comment

Archive

Show more

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland: Day 8 – County Louth

Image
My plans for my last day in Ireland came together in a very ad hoc fashion. Having seen everything I wanted to see, I searched for interesting sights close to the highway between Dublin and Belfast. These did not include – though I found it the most interesting sight of all – the modest highway sign saying “Welcome to Northern Ireland” painted over with several streaks of dark red paint.
Read more

Southern Delhi and Other Bits and Pieces

Image
On my last day in Delhi, I managed to cross off the last few items on my sightseeing list. I began by packing my luggage, all the while congratulating myself on having remembered to ask the hotel to do my laundry in advance. That finished, I ordered an Uber to Akshardham, a massive Hindu temple east of the Yamuna River. The opening hours of the temple are not well advertised, and when I arrived by the front gate, I learned it was still closed. For a few minutes, I took pictures of the temple from afar, when suddenly an autorickshaw driver approached me. He reasoned with me that since the temple would not open until ten, I had better come with him and see other sights. I had to admit the soundness of his reasoning and gave him my next address.
Read more

Vietnam North to South – Day 1: Alone in Hanoi

Image
My redeye from Delhi arrived close to five in the morning, and I did not catch a jot of sleep. Once I got to my hotel, however, I did not feel particularly drowsy, and instead of napping for a few hours, I started sorting through my photos from India. This exercise lasted for as long as it stayed cloudy outside – that is to say – until around eleven, when I grew bored of the very mechanical editing process and decided to go out.
Read more