Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Vinh Ha Long, or Bay of the Descending Dragon, lies in the northeastern part of Vietnam and is 165 km from Hanoi. It is often touted by proud Vietnamese as the world's Eighth wonder and is a UNESCO world heritage site. One of the main attractions of Ha Long is the bay's calm water and the approximately 3,000 limestone mountains dotting the seascape.

Upon arriving in Ha Long at noon, we boarded a junk and set sail with eight other people in addition to each party’s Vietnamese tour guide. Our boat mates were from Singapore, France, Australia, and the US. Our junk slowly motored around the bay for several hours, allowing us to take in the natural beauty of all the limestone formations and enjoy the peaceful water. From time to time local people would pull along side our junk and try to sell us bottled drinks and cookies, or sea shells and coral. Our junk eventually moored at a rather large formation and we could see people half way up the side, in front of a large cave opening.

Our guide, Hai, lead us though a huge cave inside, consisting of three large rooms. When the government began to allow tourists to visit Vietnam in the 1990’s, lights and footpaths were added. It was quite impressive. Unfortunately, most of the individual stalagmites and stalactites have been broken off by tourists or locals wanting to sell them to tourists. Astonishingly, the cave had no water in it that we could see.

After leaving the cave and returning to the junk, we slowly motored to a small sandy beach where those who wanted to swim could do so. By the time it started to get dark we all got back on the junk and headed a short distance away to anchor for the night.

We enjoyed the delicious meals that were prepared for us, which always consisted of several kinds of seafood (fish, jumbo shrimp, crabs) and rice, even for breakfast!

By the time noon rolled around again on the second day, we were docked at the harbor where we had climbed aboard. The next group of eager tourists was waiting their turn as we debarked.

On the 3 ½ hour long drive to and from Ha Long, we stopped at the obligatory emporium. This one is half way between Hanoi and Ha Long and is quite large and impressive. Visitors could wander through the work shops, watching workers sew both pictures and clothes, make jewelry and create laquerware. We saw a number of workers in wheel chairs, making the emporium an “equal opportunity employer.” Since we are in a “no new stuff” mode, we looked at the pretty handiwork, took pictures, sat long enough to enjoy a cup of the local tea and the ambiance, then moved on.