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Tuesday 22 May 2012

Halong Bay - Most stunning landscape yet?


We spent 2 days and 1 night upon a beautiful indochinese junk. It was a tour organised by Handspan and was highly recommended by lots of travel sites and books. We were not disappointed. We travelled in style and comfort with better facilities then the Hostels we have been staying in. The staff were very helpful and keen to make sure we had the best possible time aboard. But the luxury of the boat was less then half as impressive as Halong Bay itself. 


The Bay is peppered with literally thousands of these forest clad limestone out crop that are shaped into beautiful objects that are named. (this one above is meant to look like a turtle)





Travelling out on a bamboo raft we went through a small cave that links the main waterway to a secret cove. This secret cove was amazingly peaceful and we saw some of the local monkey who live on the islands circling this secluded cove.




We were taken to another island where we got a chance to swim in the very warm salt water. Very relaxing after we had climbed up a large island to get views from the top. We had plenty of time to relax on deck in these beautiful surroundings before settling down for the awesome sunset over the bay. I apologise for the many pictures below but it was so beautiful and no one image did a good job of catching how it looked. 




 







The Food on the boat was amazing at every meal with us getting lots of chances to try new stuff and preparing extra dishes if we couldn't eat anything. Dinned with this level of service made a nice change from the normal back packer grub. 

After dinner we got a chance to do some late night squid fishing. A curious activity requiring a powerful lamp. Simple rod and line with a fluorescent hook/float but no real bait. The simple enough method was to drop the line so the hook fell down 1 or 2 meters and then in a jerking movement move the hook up and to the side. I was a little sceptical about if this would trick a real squid into impaling itself onto a hook. But after watching the staff catch 3 in a row I gave it a shot and after 30-45min of effort i was rewarded with a suicidal squid jumping onto my hook and letting me lift it up onto deck (ink squirting everywhere as he came up. Mine is the 2nd biggest in the bucket. After this success I went back up to the main deck to watch the night sky and chat with a delightful couple from Australia that me and Michelle had made friends with earlier in the day.




The next morning we sailed past a floating fishing village and on to visit the largest (discovered) limestone cave in Halong Bay. After climbing up the side of one of the larger island we went under the rock to explore. Can you see a the shape of a monkey climbing up the rock outcrop in the picture on the right?

  
Can you see the face in this outcrop?

The cave system was amazing and pictures in the low light don't do it justice.But I can promise you that like the rest of Halong Bay the sights are stunning and should be a must see item on any trip to South East Asia.





4 comments:

  1. Gareth and Michelle

    Great to read about your adventure big and small, good and shabby! Bless you guys. Bob n Pam contacted you yet? The day you mailed me they were heading back to Cambodia so out of contact for a few days but I hope they got my msg and contacted you....?

    Bless you and safe travels, look forward to hearing more about it when u get back.

    Gareth - guess who left me a desperate and apologetic message on my phone the other day asking if we can come in next half term (!!!!!!!!) and do one lesson with each yr 9 class......farce!!!!

    G

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  2. Yeah Bob and Pam are in contact. Organising travel across 4 countries dealing with 4 native languages has been interest but it is getting easier now we are in Vietnam. We are on a more commonly travelled path so its a bit smoother.

    I can guess who rang you, if you have the time to do some I know the young people would benefit but if not you can offer them that I will come in during Autumn term to catch up. Leave it to you (and Paul) to decide. By the way in China we found a small but good quality board game shop. With a mix of Chinese language and English games. You might find something similar in Cambodia. Or you could hop on a plan to Chengdu to find the shop and meet the Pandas.

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  3. We are dying to go to Halong Bay, Amazing! This is the photo of it that is in our dreams: http://goo.gl/tluUM. Thanks for sharing your great account! Would you say your cruise is child friendly? Were there any children on board?

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  4. The Halong boat tour is one of the most scenic and quiet places with massifs emerging from the sea surrounded by mist. I recommend this tour.

    Halong Bay Cruise | toursvietnam | http://www.toursvietnam.com.au/


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