The Descending Dragon
Today we set off for Ha Long Bay, one of UNESCOs world heritage sites. It is just over a 2 hour drive now that they have opened the expressway so we set off at 9am; to be fair, the drive was rather boring, but we found out a few facts about the bay and saw the worlds longest ceramic mosaic mural as we left Hanoi, it was 4km in length. There are 1969 limestone formations in the bay and Ha Long means “descending dragon”. My first impresions driving into Ha Long City make me think this is a tourist trap but we will see.
We stopped at a pearl museum before checking in for the boat. Vietnam is famous for sustainable pearls; we were shown how they open the oyster and implant it, really interesting. Our next stop was the check-in terminal; we waited for 20 minutes before a buggy took us to our floating hotel, the Paradise Elegance 2.
Our cases were sent to our room but we went to the dining area to have a welcome drink and get the usual safety briefing. It was incredibly short so we headed to our room to settle in before lunch. We only had 30 minutes before lunch so we wandered up to the sun deck to take a few pictures of the bay now that we had left the terminal. Lunch consisted of fresh prawns, hot and spicy squid, green papaya salad and lots of other tasty concoctions.
We had 20 minutes to get ready before our first excursion of the day. As we dropped anchor, a few women, rowing small boats drew up beside the boat. They were selling beer, wine and snacks. We asked the price for 3 beers and were sold at 100,000 Dong (£3.28) as it would be 165,000 Dong on the boat; given that we were on the upper deck, we had no idea how to get them....alas, a fishing net! She sent us the beer first, then we sent down a 100,000 Dong note. Amazing! Another boat came by, we bought 3 more!
The call went out at 2.30pm and we headed down to the lobby; we put on a life vest and boarded the little boat to take us to the Sung Sot Caves. The caves were discovered by the French in 1901 and comprise of two caverns; it was originally called “Grottes des Surprises”. After a steep climb, you get to the mouth of the cave; the first chamber is around 30 metres high but it is the second chamber which is the “surprise.” There are hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites in an area which could hold over a thousand people at any one time. It is fascinating!
After 30 mins or so and a number of steps up and down, we boarded the small boat again and headed back to our cabin. They were serving afternoon tea in the bar but we decided to sit on our balcony with beers instead. The boat started up and we headed to the next excursion destination; we had the choice between the pearl farm or kayaking, we chose kayaking! It was great fun although I now have the blister to show for it. We were rowing about for 40 minutes before going back to the boat and watching the sunset. It was stunning, you can judge for yourself!
I decided to have a bath and relax before dinner, it was bliss! We went to the piano before dinner and had a couple of drinks; they love happy hour here! We then went to dinner; it was a choice between Asian, Western or a mix and match! I pretty much chose the Asian menu apart from dessert!
After dinner, we thought we would have a nightcap in the piano bar; wow, what an experience! There were Japanese people up dancing, loads of different people singing, who clearly couldn’t...we had a few drinks, then headed back to the cabin to rest our ears!
We stopped at a pearl museum before checking in for the boat. Vietnam is famous for sustainable pearls; we were shown how they open the oyster and implant it, really interesting. Our next stop was the check-in terminal; we waited for 20 minutes before a buggy took us to our floating hotel, the Paradise Elegance 2.
Our cases were sent to our room but we went to the dining area to have a welcome drink and get the usual safety briefing. It was incredibly short so we headed to our room to settle in before lunch. We only had 30 minutes before lunch so we wandered up to the sun deck to take a few pictures of the bay now that we had left the terminal. Lunch consisted of fresh prawns, hot and spicy squid, green papaya salad and lots of other tasty concoctions.
As we were walking out of lunch, we were wished a Happy Honeymoon by the hospitality manager; she then whispered to us that she wanted to offer us a cabin upgrade. We were in a Deluxe Balcony Cabin but she showed us the Elegance Balcony Suite, 2 categories above us and there are only 2 of these cabins....a total no-brainer! We happily moved to our new cabin, it was at the rear of the boat and the balcony was an L-shape and went round the corner; we also had a bath, as well as a shower.
We had 20 minutes to get ready before our first excursion of the day. As we dropped anchor, a few women, rowing small boats drew up beside the boat. They were selling beer, wine and snacks. We asked the price for 3 beers and were sold at 100,000 Dong (£3.28) as it would be 165,000 Dong on the boat; given that we were on the upper deck, we had no idea how to get them....alas, a fishing net! She sent us the beer first, then we sent down a 100,000 Dong note. Amazing! Another boat came by, we bought 3 more!
The call went out at 2.30pm and we headed down to the lobby; we put on a life vest and boarded the little boat to take us to the Sung Sot Caves. The caves were discovered by the French in 1901 and comprise of two caverns; it was originally called “Grottes des Surprises”. After a steep climb, you get to the mouth of the cave; the first chamber is around 30 metres high but it is the second chamber which is the “surprise.” There are hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites in an area which could hold over a thousand people at any one time. It is fascinating!
After 30 mins or so and a number of steps up and down, we boarded the small boat again and headed back to our cabin. They were serving afternoon tea in the bar but we decided to sit on our balcony with beers instead. The boat started up and we headed to the next excursion destination; we had the choice between the pearl farm or kayaking, we chose kayaking! It was great fun although I now have the blister to show for it. We were rowing about for 40 minutes before going back to the boat and watching the sunset. It was stunning, you can judge for yourself!
I decided to have a bath and relax before dinner, it was bliss! We went to the piano before dinner and had a couple of drinks; they love happy hour here! We then went to dinner; it was a choice between Asian, Western or a mix and match! I pretty much chose the Asian menu apart from dessert!
After dinner, we thought we would have a nightcap in the piano bar; wow, what an experience! There were Japanese people up dancing, loads of different people singing, who clearly couldn’t...we had a few drinks, then headed back to the cabin to rest our ears!
Oh and regarding my original observation, is this a tourist trap? Definitely, but it is spectacular and well worth a visit!
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