‘Cruise around one of the Seven Wonders of Nature’, proclaimed the poster in the travel shop in Hanoi. I had been in the Vietnamese capital for about a week as I continued on my travels through Asia. I have been in Asia for about 3 months and had arrived in Vietnam having spent a thoroughly delightful month in Cambodia. Surely nothing could beat that.
As much as the Angkorian Temples blew my mind, and they did, I was in no way prepared for the staggering beauty of nature’s work, that is displayed in Halong Bay. It defies description and no photo that I had ever seen does it justice. I had read all about it, 600 square miles with nearly two thousands islands set amongst clear blue seas, but to actually be there, my word!
The islands are actually limestone karsts, they rise out of the water imperiously, their steep sides towering about our cruise boat. On some it is impossible to land, whilst others are well used to the tour boats stopping by and dropping their charges off to spend time in caves or looking at handicrafts in traditional villages. The whole area is like a natural theme park, and nature does the job better than mankind ever could.
The tour boats are incredible.The cabins are more like state rooms as these large floating hotels meander around in the bay. The window in our cabin was large and to throw open the curtains in the morning and simply drink in the vista was awesome. We even had a private balcony and the late evenings were spent sipping gin and tonic as the boat bobbed gently about and the twinkling lights of other craft could be seen dotted around us.
We enjoyed the food on board as well. There is a chef on each boat so the standard of cuisine is what you would expect in a good hotel. There were Vietnamese buffets every day for lunch and a fine evening dinner. Alternative western food was available but we prefer to go native wherever we are in the world. Fabulous seafood and crisp Vietnamese spring rolls were eaten and washed down with a nice red wine. This is luxury cruising at its best.
The time just flew by in spite of the fact that the days were mainly spent sitting on deck relaxing. There were many offers of snorkeling or kayaking but I was more than happy to stay on board and enjoy the view and the bar. We spent 4 days here and I could easily go back and spend another four. It is the most beautiful place I have been to. Not surprisingly it has won just about every award and received every accolade possible. UNESCO recognised it 20 years ago and inscribed it on to their list of World Heritage Sites.
I can thoroughly recommend this type of trip to anyone. Whatever you do if you visit Vietnam, do not miss the chance to spend a few days here. It will astonish and bewitch you.