June 15, 2016

Bay of beauty

Chiara Di ASIA, TRAVEL Asia, Halong Bay, Topdeck, Travel, Vietnam, Wanderlust 0 Comments

One of the highlights of our Vietnam trip was staying overnight on a junk boat in the middle of beautiful Halong Bay.

From Hue we flew to Hanoi – Vietnam’s capital city – where we spent one night before embarking on our overnight junk boat adventure.

The village of Halong was approximately three and a half hours drive from Hanoi. Along the way we stopped at a Vietnamese art, fashion and jewellery store that was set up for disabled people and sold everything from jewellery with gem stones to scarves and paintings. It seemed like such a good cause so I didn’t mind spending that little bit extra to purchase souvenirs and knickknacks for friends and family back home.

The second stop was Halong Pearl Farm where they showed us how they make oyster pearls before leading us to a massive brightly lit showroom of pearl jewellery.

Once we got to Halong dock we got onto our tug boat, which took us to the L’Azalee junk boat for our overnight stay. The L’Azalee had three levels with deck one for cabins, the kitchen and getting on and off the boat; deck two for the dining room and more cabins; and deck three was the upper deck for viewing and catching some sun, or should I say cloud.

It was unfortunate for us that the air was so foggy during our stay so we couldn’t get a clear picture of the bay. We were able to see the rocks up close in full, but anything past it had a thick cloud of fog over it.

I was impressed that our cabins had air conditioning and an ensuite. I was expecting a sail Croatia like situation. They were also very modern.

I was also impressed with the quality and quantity of food on our overnight stay (forgot to take photos). First up was lunch shortly after checking into our room. We had appetisers of fresh spring rolls, prawn crackers, fried fish and squid, Vietnamese salad with prawn, and oysters. We were then served chicken soup, a main of rice, chicken, fish and green pumpkin, and cake, watermelon and syrup infused lychees and lotus for dessert.

Mid afternoon we arrived at another pearl farm literally in the middle of the bay by tug boat. We were again given a demonstration on how the oyster pearls are made. It’s interesting that only 10% make the perfect pearl, 20% are uneven and better used for cheap jewellery or cosmetics and 70% don’t create any pearls. And can you believe they had a showroom in the middle of the bay as well?! If you decided to buy anything and didn’t have money on you, the salesperson comes back on the tug to your junk boat to complete the purchase.

Our next stop was kayaking around the bay. We kayaked in pairs around the rocks, although I didn’t do much rowing, I left it up to my partner. We spotted a temple in one of the rocks and were told stories of the area by a local guide.

After kayaking we sailed to our place of dock for the night alongside several other junk boats. I had been hoping the skies would clear up for us but they didn’t that night or the next day.

 

Before dinner we did a cooking demonstration with the chef onboard to make pork salad and got to enjoy what we made. For dinner we were spoilt again with a spicy sweet and sour prawn soup, fried spring rolls and Vietnamese beef salad, main of beef with capsicum, rice and barbecued prawns and another dessert cake with a side of mango and lychee.

After dinner we tried squid fishing off the tug but only a few of us were successful. After the boredom of fishing set in (approximately 10 minutes) we retreated to the top deck for some drinks with the group and to reminisce about our time in Vietnam. It was nice to see all the boats lit up in the night sky.

In the morning we woke up early for a Tai Chi class on the top deck. It was the first time I tried it and it kind of didn’t feel like I was doing anything except stretching and breathing but maybe I just wasn’t doing it right!

We were served an Aussie breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, tomato and toast, as well as fruit, croissants and yoghurt.

After breakfast we visited Halong Bay Cave which was in one of the rocks. The cave was beautiful with it’s natural formations and not so natural lighting. There were about 200 steps to walk up to access the cave and different parts of the cave to view. The view from the cave over the bay was also amazing.

We checked out of our rooms at 9.30am and enjoyed our last views of the bay before a light brunch (more food) of a chicken baguette, Vietnamese salad and fruit. All the food on the junk boat was included as part of our tour, we just had to pay for our own drinks which were a little higher in price than the average bar.

After brunch we were back at the dock and on our way back to Hanoi. Halong Bay is a true natural beauty that has to be seen to be believed. There is no other experience like it and something I would definitely do again, although hopefully it will be with blue skies.

Next week I’m taking you to Hanoi which is the last city of my Vietnam trip.

LWL xxx