To Ha Long Bay We Go

Have you ever heard of Ha Long Bay? Probably not… neither did I, up until a couple months ago, but Ha Long Bay is among one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994, it was recently named one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the Modern World and for good reasons. The bay encompasses over 1,600 limestone karst islands off the northern coast of Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. While few larger islands are popular tourist destinations, most of the islands are untouched, and many of the islands are hallow with caves and fresh water lakes. Not only is Ha Long Bay recognized for its purely sensational beauty, but also for the biodiversity including - but certainly not limited to - bio-luminescent ocean species (phosphorescent/glow-in-the-dark).

Although Ha Long Bay was among the top of my list for our whole trip, I started the four-hour bus ride to the Bay with a chip on my shoulder. It was cold, the weather was crappy, and we hadn’t seen the sun since we arrived in Vietnam. The smoggy air was as if we never left China. Once to the Harbor, we boarded a small wooden boat that took us to the Cristina Cruise. Don’t let me fool you, it was no “Cruise Ship” as you would picture a Carnival Cruise Ship… but more a small house boat. There were about 20 people that loaded up and packed into our tiny rooms. We had a quick lunch on the boat, and we began cruising along the Bay, again only adding to my disappointment. I was in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I could barely see anything ten meters in front of me through the gloomy, grey smog.  

The Cristina Cruise Boat

View from our boat during the island tour

Our first stop was to Hang Sung Sot Island where we did a small hike, and our guide for the week, Swi (meaning happy) lead us through the hallow caves of the Island. There were some look outs along the hike overlooking the Bay and the pillars of limestone covered in dense green vegetation, and with a bright blue sunny sky, I am sure it would have been breathtaking. Our next stop took us to the floating village where fishing families live their entire lives on small floating shacks. We got to kayak around the village, which was pretty interesting. Can you imagine growing up in a floating tree house getting from one house to the other via kayak instead of walking? They used the water for cooking, cleaning and waste… not to mention all of the oil on the surface from the large tourist boats coming in and out… it was definitely not water that I wanted to tip my kayak in, but it sure did look beautiful! Our last stop was Ti Top Island for some beach and swim time, but unfortunately, it was far too cold to swim, so we just parked it on the beach and watched all the crazy people run into the water, and run right back out!

View of Ha Long Bay from out hike into Hang Song Sot island & cave 

snacks anyone?

Houses in the floating village of Ha Long Bay 

Back on the boat, we had a “cooking class” before dinner. The class consisted of the chef already having everything cooked for the inside of spring rolls, and we got to roll a couple. Anyway, the food was good (all the food we were eating in Vietnam was delicious), and we spent the rest of the evening on the rooftop of our boat lounging in the chairs, drinking some beers.

At one point, we had anchored the boat in a corner away from the other boats, right in the middle of several towering islands. In the distance, the horizon was a skyline of lit boats, the cloud were finally beginning to part and the moon and stars were shinning so bright. And the only thing that I could think of was PERSPECTIVE. I had been so cranky and disappointed up until that point in my trip. It seemed as though nothing was going the way that I had anticipated. I looked at where I was sitting, and I looked at the amazing friends that I was sitting with, and I realized that I felt like one of the luckiest people on Earth. I had been so naïve to be upset about the gloomy sky, when in reality I was seeing a place that most people will never see in their lifetime. I was with valued friends and travel companions, and having an experience of a lifetime that I will never be able to fully share with anyone else in a place that I may never return to. It was then that I raised my beer up and gave a toast with my friends and thanked the Lord for giving me the opportunity to live out my dreams, to travel to places like that, and to share in the experience with inspiring people. From then on, PERSPECTIVE became the word of my trip… That night, I feel asleep on the roof of that boat staring straight up at the mountains, and I opened my eyes in the morning to the same mountains, lit orange by the sun. 

Girls will be Girls (Cat Ba island)

While we had a quick breakfast, our boat headed for our next destination. Cat Ba Island is one of the bigger islands in the Bay, a small city and a huge tourist stop. Basically all the cruise boats were on the same route because we kept running into the same people over and over again. We left our boat behind and loaded on to a crowded bus that took us to the Cat Ba National Park for a hike/walk around then to a restaurant for lunch. By this time, I was just about over the group tour business. I didn't like that we had spent most of the day being shuffled around on a crowded bus being forced to do things that were not on our itinerary. It was finally getting warm enough to put on shorts and all I wanted was to get to the beach! After what seemed like forever, a small handful of us boarded yet another small boat headed to our bungalows. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical, as the tour had not been exactly what we were told, but I was looking forward to getting to the beach anyway. It was about 45 minutes on the boat racing in, out and around the towering islands before we can into view of Nam Cat Island – our own private island consisting of nothing but a handful of bungalows right on the beach, backed by a mountain of green. I couldn't get my swim suit on fast enough to finally jump into the turquoise water. From the beach, we were surrounded by mountains, and the water barely reached over my head as I swam out to the nearest island.

Cat Ba Island

Nam Cat Island as we approached 

View of Ha Long Bay from our island 

 There were only a total of ten people staying on the island – there was our group of five girls, plus the two new friends we made in Hanoi, Rob and Fredrika, and a group of three Canadian guys. Following dinner, Fredrika and I began playing card games and drinking beers on the beach with the Canadians. I couldn’t wait for it to get dark so that I could swim in the glow-in-the-dark water that I had heard so much about. At some point, we decided that skinny dipping would be the best option. Judge me if you will, but how many chances I am going to have to say that I went skinny dipping in phosphorescent water? It was the most incredible thing! The algae in the water are activated by motion, so as you swim, they light up like fireflies. Imagine swimming begin surrounded by millions of fireflies! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture any pictures (but click here to watch someone else's youtube video), but here are some from online… yes, it was that incredible and by far, my favorite part about Vietnam and Ha Long Bay.