I'm back from my trip to Halong Bay. It was fantastic - the highlight of my time in Vietnam. Legend has it that the rocks, islands, and waterways were created by a dragon landing and driving the ground up and out of the water and into amazing shapes. Geologists among us might express some scepticism over this, but it is a nice story and image all the same. I can't describe the overwhelming beauty, so I suggest you have a look at the photographs I took and see for yourself.
I spent three days on an organised boat trip with about fourteen or so others. Everyone in the group got on well and had a good time, and we had a wonderful tour guide called Hang (aka Tom Hangs) who took the trip from being very good and put it up a scale to absolutely excellent. I went swimming in the South China Sea, kayaking into caves, and slept on a comfortable and pleasant cruiser boat at night. We also had a song night, and I even managed to join on that despite my flat out of tune voice. Very uncharacteristic considering my reserved nature.
Since I've been back, I've also been to visit the Perfume Pagoda just outside Hanoi. Located on top of a 4km high hilltop, the Pagoda sits inside a large and damp cave, and is an important site of Pilgrimage for many Vietnamese. As it turned out, I was more impressed with my brisk trek up the track to the top than with the actual attraction at the top. The sacred area really functioned as a quick rest area where I could get my breath back, before tackling my descent back down. Had an average lunch at the bottom and then headed back for Hanoi.
I'm going to Sapa by night train this evening. The journey will take twelve hours and the train is a sleeper. I'm staying in Sapa for a few nights, and will return to Hanoi after to prepare for my move into Laos (I enter Laos on 1 October). The road to Laos is one hell of a journey: twenty four hours by bus, and that's if all goes well and there are no delays, which is unlikely. It's going to be hard work, but it's something I want to say I've done so I'm looking forward to it as a challenge to overcome.
Sapa promises me several days of relaxation alone, and should afford plenty of opportunity to reflect on my time in Vietnam, and also to blog more - so expect much more regular updates as of tomorrow.
2 comments:
Halong bay looks breathtaking! Wow!!
Was the water deep? Did people dive off the rocks?
Halong Bay is just fabulous.
It was deep enough that I could jump of the top of our three storey boat and down into the water.
It was shallow by the rocks so you could dive in off there - you'd need Halong Bay medical treatment.
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