All too quickly we've reached our
last day. After a 4 hour drive from Hanoi yesterday afternoon we are now
in Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World heritage site and one of the 7 Wonders of the
Natural World. That may well be the case but the town is a complete dump;
I should imagine a few years ago it was quite nice but everything is falling
apart, the pavements are extremely dangerous with giant holes in them and
the bay front is being developed, as a result of which its boarded up
along its whole 1.5 mile length.
There is nothing to see in the town, no decent shops and even the night market has closed down. Luckily we were staying in a very nice hotel which boasts beautiful views of the bay - great if your room is that side but hard luck if it isn't. They don't even have a roof terrace to take advantage of the view, although I understand a new hotel is being developed opposite and actually on the beach so that would render any terrace useless anyway.
Yesterday was cold, wet and miserable, but the forecast today was a bit better and we set off in the mist optimistic that it would burn off. Ha Long (descending dragon) bay consists of about 2,000 limestone islets, some with huge caves inside and is also home to a few floating villages. There are about 300 vessels of differing sizes on the bay, some of which you can stay on overnight but we were on for a 7 hours cruise including a seafood lunch and once again we had a whole boat to ourselves.
There is nothing to see in the town, no decent shops and even the night market has closed down. Luckily we were staying in a very nice hotel which boasts beautiful views of the bay - great if your room is that side but hard luck if it isn't. They don't even have a roof terrace to take advantage of the view, although I understand a new hotel is being developed opposite and actually on the beach so that would render any terrace useless anyway.
Yesterday was cold, wet and miserable, but the forecast today was a bit better and we set off in the mist optimistic that it would burn off. Ha Long (descending dragon) bay consists of about 2,000 limestone islets, some with huge caves inside and is also home to a few floating villages. There are about 300 vessels of differing sizes on the bay, some of which you can stay on overnight but we were on for a 7 hours cruise including a seafood lunch and once again we had a whole boat to ourselves.
This
cave was named Surprise Cave by the French - I wonder why
Finally the sun came out and we climbed up to the top of one
rock for a glorious 360 deg panorama.
Then before we knew it, it was time to get back on the bus
for the 4 hour drive back to Hanoi Airport and home. Along the way I was
finally able to catch a few workers in the rice/salad fields.
Well I hope you enjoyed this brief résumé of our
wonderful holiday and thank you for following along. A final thanks also
to Lydia and Malcolm for being such good companions.
