VN Trip-Day2-Ha Long Bay

In Hanoi, we got up early and had breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel. From the roof, we could see over the city.  A plant close by smell of sweet jasmine, bringing back childhood memories of Tết (Lunar New Year). We ordered the scramble eggs. It came with a huge, crusty baguette and a cup of 'cafe au lait', strong and sweet. Ummm! It was the best coffee ever. Drinking coffee in the US will never be the same again.

Our travel agency had arranged for a van to pick us up in front of our hotel at 8:00am. The van will take us to Ha Long Bay (a 3 1/2 hour drive), located on the east coast of northern Vietnam. Our driver got us there a little earlier by weaving thru pedestrians (some of them walking their cows), trucks and buses.

Outside of Hanoi, we hit two lanes highway. Why two lanes I don't know because traffic traveling in opposite directions were determined to make it 4 lanes. You could pass on the right or left of said vehicle(s) in front and this theory applied to the other lane as well. Passing on the left only had one little hindrance though, bicycles and motorbikes hugging the side of the lane. But hey, a van is big and the bigger the vehicle, the more right of way you have. My pulse rate increased every time the driver try to pass another vehicle.

We passed many cemeteries. Historically, family members were buried in the fields where the family grew crops. Today, bodies are placed in concentrated cemeteries. Bodies are first buried in the ground; after 3 years, the bones are dug up and reburied. These "villages of the dead" are found among rice paddies and fields.

I was also shocked to see restaurant signs indicating their specialty - dog meat! We were in a small group, total of 11, plus crew. Everyone was really nice. It was a good mix with a French couple, British couple, 2 LA Cops, a Japanese lady and us.

Tally Ho!
When the junk started sailing, it was kind of misty. I was worried that my trip was spoiled because it was so foggy. Even though I've seen many pictures of Halong Bay, nothing had prepared me to actually seeing it. It looked like something out of the South Pacific movie. It was so breathtakingly beautiful. Imagine the junk sailing, you are standing on the deck, on the edge overlooking the blue-green water. With the wind blowing in your face, the junk sailed in between massive limestone formations. It took my breath away!

We spent the day exploring limestone caves and stayed over night on the boat. There are over 3000 of these rock / limestone formations (called grottos) in Halong Bay, of course we only saw maybe 5% of that. Legend has it that Ha Long was formed when a dragon flew through the region dragging its tail which carved the earth thus forming the grottos. There are even people who live around these rocks on floating houses and cities built into the walls of the mountains. We even saw a pack of wild dogs on one of the small islands without any other inhabitants.

That night we spent the night in the open sea on the junk. That long twilight on the deck as the islands turned grey and then black, stars overhead, and the quiet lapping of water on the wooden hull made it a night to remember.