Vietnam 2018, part 7 (Ha Long Bay, Hanoi)
The next morning we got up early, since we had to get ready to be picked up in order to go for a Ha Long Bay cruise.
Namely, east of the north part of Vietnam, there is the large Gulf of Tonkin and one of its parts close to the coast and the city of Ha Long is called the Ha Long Bay. This bay is in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List and the reason for this is that there are over 1600 islands and isles there which on account of their shape and the density create a truly fascinating sight. These are limestone formations which stand out from the sea like some pillars with rounded tops and they are more or less covered in vegetation.
It is possible to visit Ha Long Bay from Hanoi as a part of numerous tours that last from one to several days, and we opted for a two-day tour, which was in fast one whole day split over two. In addition, we chose to visit the section called Bai Tu Long Bay, since we were told it was less touristy and we would practically see the same thing. Still, for the sake of simplicity, and I’m not sure which photos I took of which bay, in the continuation I’ll call it all Ha Long Bay.
As we approached the port from which the cruises leave, we could already see some mildly rounded limestone rocks protruding from the sea. Still, we first had to gather in the port and then we were taken to the ship by boats. There we embarked, got our room and then we all had to gather in order to have the safety briefing, as well as to be explained what was ahead of us.
Although each room had its own balcony, Sneza and I decided to go onto the top deck from where we had a wonderful view at the surroundings. There is not much to tell. Basically, this is a unique landscape which impresses with its beauty and simplicity.
Then we went to have lunch and soon the ship started to go between some of the islands and then it made a stop. After that, together with the rest of the passengers, we were transferred by boats to one of the limestone formations where it was possible to disembark.
Since both these islands and the good portion of the terrain on the dry land are made of limestone, the time and erosion have done their work, so that here, as well as on the shore, there are numerous caves. Thus we visited one right on this island.
Although the cave was nice, I found the view that I could enjoy from in front of the entrance into the cave much more impressive.
After the visit to the cave, we went down to the part of the islet where there is a sand beach. When the weather is nicer, i.e., when it is warm, one may have a swim there, but I contented myself by taking my shoes off at once and joyfully walking through the shallows. The water was pleasantly fresh, but not too attractive for having a desire to swim.
We had some time free while at the beach and then we all went back to the ship and continued with our sailing. The sun was getting close to the horizon and we soon had another stop but for those who wanted to try kayaking. We certainly did not want to miss out on that!
First we got the basic instructions and life-jackets, and once we got into the kayaks, we also got the paddles. By drawing the paddles haphazardly through the water, the water drops kept sliding down the paddle shaft into our laps, but that had no effect on our good mood whatsoever. To start with, we were very satisfied with our fake branded jackets that we had bought for next to nothing and as it turned out they protected us quite fine both when it was windy on the top deck of the ship and now when the water was splashing us.
Almost the entire time we laughed and teased each other, and while we were watching the sun setting (which was a rare phenomenon during this journey – I’m talking of the fact that we saw the sun at all) and paddling towards the ship, it occurred to us to start singing a locally well-known Serbian 1955 duet “Čamcem plovim sam po Tisi” (…You are no longer by my side, I’m sailing alone along the Tisa river, but I still love you-ou-ou…, have a listen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_4exXn55jk). When you are paddling, this is the song to sing. In other words, we had a lot of fun and that dusk the Ha Long Bay resonated with our laughter and singing.
Having returned to the ship and after we had changed into dry clothes, we went to the top deck where soon other passengers also gathered. Namely, it was there that we had the demonstration of how to prepare proper Vietnamese fried spring rolls. Before the preparation of this delicious dish started, I took a few more photos of our surroundings in order to take advantage of the last traces of sunlight.
As for the spring rolls, we even got a printed recipe. Although I keenly followed what the girl in charge of the demonstration was doing, hoping to learn some tricks of the trade, I was not actually interested in making them there, since I had already prepared them back at home. But, regardless of who was preparing them, the crew or the passengers, we could still all try them in the end and they were great.
This also served as a fine starter for our dinner. During the dinner, as well as during most of the time we spent on this cruise, we hanged out with Silvina, a nice and lively Argentinean, and Mauro, an Italian who speaks perfect English, and we had a lot of fun.
And after the dinner we had a party. As it turned out, almost all of the crew of the ship were “multipractic” – they all did different jobs. Jackie, who was the main manager, was also in charge of collecting tourists on the shore, and the presentation of the cruise and safety measures, he led the kayak expedition, he danced together with other employees at the beginning of the party and he also gave it a go with singing! Sunny was a girl who helped Jackie bring the passengers together on the shore, she guided the group when we visited the islet, cave and beach, she was in charge of the demonstration of the making of spring rolls, she also danced with the other crew members at the beginning of the party, and then it turned out she had a great voice for she sang two songs for us, one in English, one in Vietnamese. I found it interesting that although sometimes I could not understand what Sunny was saying, when she sang in English, the lyrics were perfectly comprehensible and well pronounced.
At the end of the evening, we the passengers also danced to the tune of a couple of old disco songs and that was the end of an interesting day. Or was it? I actually went with a couple of more passengers to try to catch a squid or two. They gave us rods with special hooks and told us to churn it in the water, but nobody caught anything that night. Never mind. At least we tried.
The following morning we got up early, for already at 6.30 am there was a tai chi session organized on the top deck while the ship was moving slowly. I tried to follow the instructions, but as it was far too early in the morning and the ship was swaying gently, all my efforts aimed at maintaining delicate balance basically led me to feel dizzy, so I soon gave up. But, I still managed to take a photo of those who were stoically waiting for the next move of the instructor.
After the morning exercises and breakfast, the time came for us to go sightseeing again. This time they took us to some floating houses where we moved into local boats in which we made a circle around and in-between some islands passing by other similar floating houses used by local fishermen.
After this pleasant ride, we went back to the ship for we still had to pack and leave the rooms. But, we also had enough time to admire some more the spectacular landscapes of the Ha Long Bay.
Having returned to Hanoi, we walked around the centre of the city for a while and went to a restaurant in which the tables were arranged out in the open, around the pavement, on both sides of the street. Except for the two of us who were foreigners, all other guests were Vietnamese. This almost always suggests good local food. And so it was the case this time as well. The only “problem” at the restaurant was that we were sitting on small plastic stools which back at home would be used in kindergartens. But, that was part of the adventure and we essentially did not mind it at all.
We ended the evening by going to a Western-style café, but we didn’t mind that either, for it had an open terrace on the top of a building from where we had a great view of Hoan Kiem lake.
Finally, the following day was calm, i.e., without leaving Hanoi, but we had planned to spend the entire day sightseeing around the city.
We headed in the direction of the Imperial Citadel Thang Long, but by coincidence or luck when crossing a railway track that intersects the street we went along we realized that something was going on, so we stopped in order to see what it was. Soon we got it. The railway line passes through the city at the level of its streets and it intersects them. When the train needs to pass, at each intersection of a street and the railway line, there are railway employees who stop the traffic and pull metal fences. The train then passes, the fences are slid back into their neutral position and the traffic flows again. In addition to all of this, I also found it very interesting that the train passes in-between residential buildings and it seems that the distance between the wagons and the surrounding windows and balconies is barely half a metre. Here, have a look:
In addition to the two of us and a couple of other tourists, from the top of a nearby house the situation was also closely observed by a dog.
After watching the train, we continued in the direction of the Imperial Citadel, but as we were walking parallel to the Lenin Park we heard some music coming from that side. Then we saw a few couples dancing on the park’s plateau to the music that played from some loudspeakers brought there for the occasion. I had already read that it is often possible to see residents of Hanoi practicing tai chi in parks early in the morning, but it was obvious that morning enjoyment in parks could take other forms as well. We crossed the busy street in order to see better what was going on there, but just as we were approaching the couples were slowly ending their dancing and it seemed the dancing was over. Still, one very nice lady who seemed to be the organizer or an instructor asked me if I would like to dance, which I accepted at once. I only quickly took off my backpack and the outside jacket, telling Sneza to film. Afterwards I joked saying that I would have been much better if I had had the proper dancing shoes, but of course that did not matter at all. It was important that I enjoyed in it and my partner was fabulous.
(Video courtesy of SM)
Thus our walk to the Imperial Palace unexpectedly turned into some kind of adventure, full of surprises and unplanned breaks. We also noticed and stopped at a very special shop. Namely, a few months before my arrival in Vietnam I had heard that it was possible to buy here objects made of some special wood that has scent and it was particularly interesting to buy handheld fans made of that wood which then emit nice and mild scent as you cool yourself. In the first days after our arrival in the country we did ask around, but nobody really knew what it was actually about. And then, by accident, we noticed this shop and saw the sign above it, realizing this was precisely what we had in mind. All of this concerns the agarwood, Aquilaria crassna, which under normal circumstances has no scent at all, but when infested by some mould it starts to produce some resin which gives it that specific and very valued scent. Over time, these trees have become quite rare and their price is incredibly high. Thus, we finally managed to find a handheld fan made of the agarwood in this shop, but its price was 1000 USD (!), so we decided to cool ourselves with scentless fans or simply to apply our favourite perfume to our fans and then start waving them – thus getting both the cooling and the scent, for almost no money at all.