Day 3 and I was picked up by a guide who took me to a waiting bus to get to Halong City and then transfer to a boat.
The bus ride takes 3.5 hours and 0.5 hours are spent at a miserable gift shop which has toilet facilities with very short doors. I felt like I was in kindergarden again.
We passed many a padi field and many towns all in some sort of growth development. We passed many street vendors including those selling bread along the highway.
Highway bread seller.
Cemetary.
The obligatory padi field shot from the bus.
Pigs in a basket.
As we approached Halong City, the towns around it got more industrialised.
Halong City itself is nothing. In fact, all I see is the new wealth and new tourist attractions being built around the attraction of Halong Bay. The Halong Marina is golf club and expensive looking hotels. There’s even a theme park and an “international standard” cinema being planned.
Three Vietnamese contemplate the future of making money in Halong Bay.
On either side of the marina, rows and rows of empty shophouses or apartments.
All I see is Port Dickson on steroids.
After a small boat transfer to a larger boat, we were on our way to the bay itself.
Small room on boat needs wide angle lens.
We had lunch as we entered the limestone karst area. We had fish and Tu Hai, a kind of clam prepared with lemongrass.
Tu Hai with lemon grass. Taste was rather uninspired.
Fish.
About an hour later, we go to Sung Sot cave – the Surprising or Amazing Cave. I’m not sure it’s surprising, but amazing possibly. Because of the sheer size of the cave. The stalactites and stalagmites weren’t that wonderful, but the roof with its eroded top was quite nice.
Do you see the Merlion?
The surprise!
See the “canon” and the hole in the roof?
Roof of Sung Sot.
As we moved around the bay, I noticed women plying snacks and stuff as they rowed from tourist boat to tourist boat. They’d do this even as night fell and it got colder.
Snack seller rows from boat to boat.
After that, we headed to Titop Island where we climbed 425 steps to take in what was to be a breathtaking view of the bay. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t co-operative. It had been misty the entire day. Still, I felt like I was in a Chinese painting with the different layers of rock. We spent about an hour at Titop Island.
View of the bay from Titop Island.
We returned to the boat for some tea. But I think it would’ve been better if tea had been prepared on the island. It was only about 1700 at this time. Dinner was at 1900. So I took a few more photos, showered and came back out for even more photos.
The boat I stayed on.
Dinner was pretty okay with the best dish being that of the shrimp, so sweet and so fresh. The menu isn’t Vietnamese enough – pumpkin soup – and a little on the bland side. What to do? Too many ang mos in Asia.
Speaking of ang mos, I met (forced to share a table with) an English couple who have been travelling in Asia since 1st December and will only return home on the 26th of March. They told me about their travels to Goa and Kerala. I’ve been thinking about Kerala since my baking school when I met Siva who is from Kerala. He described his home town as the Venice of the East. It seems like a good start to a visit to India.
Anyway, back to Halong Bay…
The bay is quite crowded with over 20 boats. It’s not as quiet and serene as I’d want it to be. Still, this isn’t peak season and considering this, we’re quite lucky. The walk through the cave at Sung Sot felt already a little rushed, so I can imagine how awful it is when all the tourists are in.
Shot of boats from Sung Sot Cave.
The other thing I’m not crazy about on this trip is the smell of the smoke from the boats. It seemed to linger thick in the air for a little too long.
Still, I’m glad I came here. Now I have been to two new natural wonders of the world – Table Mountian and Halong Bay.