Next up was Halong Bay, another UNESCO heritage site and one of the world's most beautiful bays. There are thousands of towering limestone kasts and isles in the bay. It is said that when the Chinese were trying to invade Vietnam, the gods send a family of dragons down to defend the land. These dragons began spitting out jewels, which have become the islets and limestone towers of the bay.
We got up early on the first day of our excursion, and took a van 3.5 hours to Halong City, right on the water. This is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam, so the docks were crowded with boats. We got on our boat, which was pretty nice; downstairs were the cabins, the middle had the dining area and the top was open and had lounge chairs. At around 2pm we left the shore and enjoy a surprisingly good lunch. By 3pm we reached the main cave, which was huge and lit with tacky blue, green and orange lighting. We spent around 40 minutes walking around inside. Then it was back to the boat for more cruising through the isles, which are stunning, particularly when the sun is out. We took a short trip on a small metal canoe through some small, low passes into pool areas between isles. We passed the time between stops reading and enjoying the view as we sailed to the kayaking area. At 5pm we got to our destination and wriggled down into our kayaks. Haley and I were not the most efficient kayaking team and got left behind while the others go through various caves. We just enjoyed the sunset and headed back to the boat. Some of the other people decided to jump off the boat and go swimming, and although the water is very warm, its also strangly green and we decide to pass on the swim. After dinner and some interesting conversations with other passengers, we called it a night.
The next day I woke up at 5am to catch the sunrise, which was beautiful and dramatic. We spent the morning cruising between the islets. By 11:30am we were back at the dock, by 1pm back on the bus, and by 4pm back in Hanoi.
Given the success of that trip, and our general dislike of sterile Hanoi, we decided to take a trip to the Perfume Pagoda in northern corner of the country the next day. The Pagoda is actually a series of temples carved into the side of limestone mountains. At 8am we sent off in van with the group and after 90 minutes of driving through the countryside, we reached a village on the river. We got into small metal, barely seaworthy canoes, rowed by skinny young women. A large Australian women nearly capsized us, so the rest of the one hour trip was pretty tense. Upon reaching the shore we decided to forgo the cable car and instead hiked the hour up to the top, actually beating the cable car. The cave pagoda is huge and the connecting tunnels seem endless. After some exploration we hiked down and got back into our rickety canoes, with the sky darkening. We spent most of the return trip in gusting winds trying to out-run the storm of lightining and thunder, and reached the shore just as the sky opens up.
Upon our return to Hanoi, we packed up and prepared to say goodbye to Vietnam, at least for now.
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