HaLong Bay Vietnam 2007

Ok, off we go - paddle, paddle...

Notice the group is WAY up in front of us?

John...wait.... I think we're going the wrong way.

Shouldn't we be following them?

I think we got it now. Paddle....one...two...three...

Lutton Cave.

Our guide said he wanted us to paddle into this karast (small mountain basically) and we would come out the other side.

Everyone is going around in circles because nobody knew how to turn their kayaks - up to this point we had basically just been going in a straight line. HA! (You can hear them whispering to each other, "No dear, paddle harder with the left oar, that will make it go to the right - no-no!,,, that's not working. Stop! Back up and let's start again!" (funny)

Poor John is on his own paddling because I'm laughing so hard and trying to take pictures.

Ok. Our guide finally gets us lined up ready to enter the cave. He's yelling ... "DON'T TOUCH THE SIDES OF THE CAVE - THEY ARE SHARP AND WILL CUT YOU!"

Oh great. It's dark AND we can't even see the sides of the cave to touch them.

All we have to do is go around this SHARP rock and stay AWAY from the sharp sides - THAT WE SHOULD NOT TOUCH - while paddling in the dark!

Oh, by the way ... watch your heads!

10 minutes of paddling. Everyone is giggling. Finally we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Hey...wait for us!"

Later our guide told us that the cave contained pearl oyster beds. Fisherman come here at night and collect them. If they are disturbed they will stop allowing tourists to kayak through their caves.

We kayaked back to our boat where the villagers were waiting to take the kayaks back to their 'city'. We changed our slightly damp clothes and prepared to go ashore for a hike to up to the 'Amazing Cave'.

Hundreds of tourists from all over the world flock to HaLong Bay for a chance to ride on one of ancient looking 'Junk' boats and to see the beautiful Karasts which heave-up out of the South China Sea.

We arranged for a 2 day - 1 night cruise from one of the many (closet size) tour offices on the main square in Hanoi.

Our driver picked us up at our hotel. 4 hour drive to the sea port.

We had a cabin on the lower deck. It included a tiny private bathroom, big enough to turn around in. There was a hand-held spray shower which flooded everything in the bath room. Hot water was turned on at 8 PM but was not warm until 9 PM and water totally shut off at 10 PM. The boat's large noisy generator was powered up in the evenings to allow us to charge our batteries. Then shut off at 10 PM. A smaller generator was then started to run lights to a few common area of the vessel.

December was near perfect weather for us on Ha Long Bay. We were able to leave our cabin window open at night for beautiful sea air.

The meals were fantastic and plentiful on the boat. Fresh vegetables, soups and fresh caught fish such as tuna, cuttle- fish, shrimp, octopus, scallops and of course all the rice we could eat. Deserts looked like they could be featured on the Food Network Channel. Delightful! Drinks cost extra but the selection was great. Coke, 7-up and fruit juices. There was also a mini-bar for those who wanted liquior.

A sad note. After every meal we watched the staff toss food scraps out the back of the boat. This included plastic bottles, plates, wrappers and more. Later when we were kayaking in the bay near our boat we were forced to paddle through the garbage from another boat. Disgusting.

Ha Long Bay on the South China Sea is a popular retreat from the intense summer heat of Hanoi. But it's claim to fame are the thousands of limestone karsts in the bay.

Legend has it that long ago when the Vietnamese were fighting the Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These gems turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders.

These powerful dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the earth and decided to live here. The place where 'Mother Dragon' flew down and named it Hạ Long. The place where the dragon children attended upon their mother was called 'Ascending' dragon or Bai Tu Long island. The place where the dragon children wriggled their tails violently was called Bạch Long Vỹ island or 'Descending' dragon.

The bay is a dense cluster of 2,000 limestone islands. Each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which seem to pop up straight from the ocean floor. Several of the islands have hollow centers with enormous caves that run straight through the centers of them.

As we paddled our kayaks through a hollow karst, our guide warned us not to touch the sides. He said fisherman come during the night to collect oysters from the fragile beds and they are easily disturbed by human touch.

Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest grotto in the Halong area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave, "Grotte des Merveilles". It's 3 large chambers contain numerous stalactites and stalamites (as well as 19th century French graffiti).

There are 2 bigger islands, Tuan Chau and Cat Ba, that have permanent inhabitants. Both of them have tourist facilities, including hotels and beaches. There are a number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands.
Some of the islands support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for the 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks.

Many of the islands acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes: such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), and Mai Nha Islet (roof).

989 of the islands have been given names of birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and iguanas which live on the islands.

A community of around 1,600 people live on Halong bay in 4 fishing villages: Cửa Vạn, Ba Hang, Cống Tàu and Vông Viêng in Hùng Thắng commune, Hạ Long city. Their homes are floating houses and are only existence is capturing fishing and marine aquaculture (cultivating marine biota) for food and money.

3 times the Vietnamese Army was able to wart off a Chinese attack in these labyrinth of channels close to the Bach Dang river. During the Vietnam War many of the channels between these islands were heavily mined by the US Navy - some of those mines still pose a threat to shipping to this day.

In 1994, the World Heritage Commission in Phuket, Thailand inscribed HaLong Bay into UNESCO. Thereby recognizing Ha Long Bay as a World Heritage protected area and confirmed the exceptional and universal value of this landscape and waters.

Ha Long Bay is not just another limestone island for the Vietnamese people. They are legend. It is said that whenever Vietnam was in danger of being concurred by others- it was 'Mother Dragon' and her children who landed and saved the country.

PLEASE do not litter. Bring 1 water bottle with you to HaLong Bay - take it back to mainland when you leave and dispose of it properly. I encourage you to bring a water filter instead of buying plastic water bottles when you arrive. They end up in the water. Help save the beauty of HaLong Bay for all generations.