Travel Blog Chapter 9: Halong Bay, Jumping boats and Danang girls

Halong bay was listed in 1994 as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In Vietnamese, Halong bay meant "Descending dragon bay". The bay belongs to Halong City and features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes. Halong bay was the center of a larger zone which includes Bái Tử Long bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà islands to the southwest.

We set off very early in the morning. After breakfast we took a cab to a nearby bus interchange and boarded a mini bus to Halong bay. We would realize later that the bus did not stop directly at the bay but we would have to transit to another form of transportation to reach the bay. There were weary looking travelers at the interchange. Saw a number of backpackers reclining on the seats waiting for their transportation. Our bus left the interchange an hour or so later after enough passengers have boarded the bus. Taking buses in Vietnam is a very noisy affair. The conducter would keep shouting at potential passengers at the door asking if they were going the same route. At the same time, the driver would endlessly press his horn to signal as well as to get slower moving vehicles out of his way. There was no such thing as graciousness on the road. So essentially you get a road full of vehicles horning at one another. It took some getting use to.

We were out of Hanoi after about an hour or so and I was glad to see the scenic side of Vietnam again. I am just not very city inclined. I get bored in the city quickly. Along the way, more passengers get up the bus, and it was becoming very cramped. Saw a communist procession prep nearing one of the towns that we passed through. There were communist flags everywhere. We passed through a mining town and the buildings were filled with soot and it was black everywhere. Really unhealthy for the inhabitants. Eventually some Chinese got up at a place near Ha Long City. I found out that you could cross into China via Ha Long City through border crossing at Mong Cai. It was weird listening to mandarin speaking people in a bus full of Vietnamese. At the same time, it made me think about people back home. These people got off at Halong City. An hour or 2 later we got off and made arrangements to transit. My bladder was full then and I seriously needed to relieve myself.

Posing in front of the bay

View from the beach

Beach area

Our next mode of transport was motorbikes doubling up as taxi service. We got up a bike each and sped off at almost 100km/hr to Halong bay. Eventually we paid them 10000 dong each which was a dollar at most. Halong bay was beautiful and we explored the islands the next day but in the meantime we had to find a place to stay first.

Boat Jumping

Inside the cave of one of the islands

The cave

The next day, we got a ticket to do island hopping. The ticket was sold by a Vietnamese lady who pushed the package to us telling us that it was 100000 dong. I found out later that that was just the cost of island admission or something. But the price of the tour was another thing altogether. We had to pay another 200000 to 300000 dong if I remembered correctly. I was irritated with the whole set up to say the least. It was really misleading as the 100000 dong was printed on the ticket and there was no indication that we had to pay more. That was the start to a bad day. We thought it was gonna be real island hopping, as in getting out of the boat onto the island. Eventually it was just one island while the boat just passed through the rest of the islands and we saw those islands from a distance. It was absolutely disappointing. What saved the trip eventually was meeting interesting people on the boat. And yes, did I mention that we had to switch boats a few times? The women, children, elderly had to jump from boat to boat to reach a new boat. Some of us were reshuffled and eventually the boat that were were on was more spacious than the first. Inside the boat we were persuaded to buy handmade souvenirs.

Halong Bay-Looking almost magical

On the roof of the boat

International mix

Posing for the camera

Our last photo on the boat

Okay I got to stop complaining because that trip wasn't that bad. The islets looked almost magical from the boat as I got up to the roof of the boat to enjoy the sea breeze. Eventually, my privacy was interrupted by most of the passengers coming up as well. Nam and I got to know 2 Vietnamese women form Da Nang. They asked me accurately if I was from Singapore. It was a surprise how they knew. They said it was from the accent as they had talked to Singaporeans before. They were working at CDM, a major American company and one of them was a translator so that explained the good English. We had fun taking photos on the boat and we would leave together for Hanoi later. I would say that the rest of the trip turned out to be very interesting indeed. Their cameras were out of batteries so I told them I would take photos for them and send it to them via email.

After the boat ride when we were back at the bay, we went to take more photos around the bay areas and had our lunch at this delicious eatery. After that, we packed our stuff and checked out of a cheap hotel. The women were staying in a more expensive hotel. We met at a bus stop and took a bus out of the bay area to another stop to transit to Hanoi. It was a different way to get back to Hanoi as we found out there were no direct buses going back to Hanoi from the bay at that time.

Waiting for the bus

Waiting for the bus as well-spot the difference

Vietnamese girls from Da Nang

Stranded by the side of the road

Long road back to Hanoi. Queen's idea.

We got off at a stop by the side of the road and over there we were met by buses going by very aggressively asking us to get on. These were the mini-buses and they drove at break-neck speed. Due to safety issues we wanted to take the cheaper and more conventional public buses to Hanoi. And we waited for at least an hour or more for our buses. We felt stranded in the middle of nowhere and wondered if we were at the right place.

One of the women, Queen told me that she would walked me back to Hanoi as it was walkable. I stared incredulously at her and she burst out laughing. We spent the rest of the time waiting and joking around while Nam bravely fended off all the persuasive drivers that went by. It was an interesting afternoon. Eventually our bus really came and we got on. For the rest of the journey I fell asleep on the bus and reached Hanoi 4 to 5 hours later. My legs were stiff and I was sorry to say goodbyes to the 2 women that we met. We exchanged contacts and promised to stay in touch. They promised they would show me around Danang if I ever go there in the future. I would get the hang of saying goodbyes as I progressed into my trip as people I met, I knew I may never get to see again in my life and this made the time spent with them very precious.