We made it! We’re finally cruising on Ha Long Bay. No doubt about it, this place is amazing. We’ll cruise around the bay this afternoon and spend the night on the boat. I’m looking forward to waking up on Ha Long Bay.
We’ve been here once before, years ago. When we were here last time, it was for a quick day-trip. After that visit, our overriding thought was that we should come back some day and stay overnight on a boat out on the bay. That “some day” has arrived.
We’re here with a tour group on a pre-Mekong-cruise package. Everyone in the group spent the last day or two in Hanoi. We didn’t exactly get to know each other, but now most of the faces are familiar. Everyone seems nice. And why not? We’re all on vacation.
Day Trip to Ha Long Bay
On our first visit, we cruised around the bay, stopped to explore a cavern on one of the islands, and stopped to tour an enclosed grotto. The cavern was neat, as far as caverns go.
Visiting the grotto was fun. Four of us westerners climbed into a little rowboat commandeered by a tiny, Vietnamese lady who looked like she might be old enough to have a few grandkids. We didn’t want to let her do all the rowing, but she wouldn’t hear any of that. She was the boss.
Off we went, powered by the little lady’s two 10-foot-long oars. She set off toward one of the huge rocks protruding up out of the bay. As we approached, we could see that she was heading toward a small opening.
Into the mouse hole-like opening we went, keeping our heads low to clear the stone overhead. The tunnel opened into an enclosed lagoon. Once inside, steep stone walls surrounded us on all sides. It was neat in there, but eerie. After taking it all in for a while, the little lady rowed us back to our boat.
This time around, we didn’t make any excursions, so we had time to relax and enjoy the amazing scenery.
Is There A Geologist in the House?
Geologists tell us that hundreds of millions of years ago, this area was a shallow sea teeming with marine life. Discarded shell material settled into a thick layer on the seabed. Millions of years of accumulation and compression transformed calcium carbonate from the shells into limestone.
Tectonic forces pushed the seabed high above sea level, exposing a limestone expanse. Millions of years of limestone erosion left nothing of the seabed but a strange mountain range of limestone towers. Sea level eventually rose to where it is today, leaving the limestone towers protruding up out of the waters of Ha Long Bay.
Waking Up on Ha Long Bay
Cruising around amid those giant limestone towers is a special experience. It’s as if huge hands are rising up from the depths all around us, stopping so that all we can see is the fingers. It’s eerie. Reflecting on our pre-cruise experience in the pearl showroom, I bet there’s a lot of woo-woo going on out here.
Dinner on the boat was excellent. A wine-tasting contest afterwards was fun. The accommodations were borderline posh – much nicer than what I expected. By day’s end, that was one boat full of happy passengers.
I woke up early the next morning. A handful of us wanted to be outside on the top deck when the sun was coming up. Chilly, fresh air, no sound whatsoever, surreal landscape of giant stony fingers rising up in the mist, and coffee. I won’t forget that morning for a while.
To be continued…
Spectacular photo of sunrise on Ha Long Bay. Credit: istockphoto/©FabianLeow
