Vietnam, Ha Long Bay is one of the most well-known tourist attractions in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Visited over six million travelers each year, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is worth the two-and-a-half-hour bus ride from Hanoi. Yes, your bus will stop for breaks along the way! The beautiful rock formations date back to over 300 million years and have been naturally preserved the surrounding environment. Lush jungle vegetation grows on the islands with monkeys visible from the boats! We made our journey on an overcast day, but how can you be disappointed the landscape? The weather conditions added a mystic sensation to the clusters of islands!
Ha Long Bay is located in northeastern Vietnam with a tropical climate and usually sees moderate temperatures. It was formed through uplifting tectonic movement, and the current landscape we see was formed around seven thousand years ago. Many of these islands contain caves formed natural erosion processes over the course of millions of years.
My mother and I visited in February of 2020. In order to get there, we booked the excursion through our hotel which included lunch on the river boat and a tour guide in a comfortable, air-conditioned bus. This is the most efficient way to book a tour. We stopped at several other hotels in the Old Quarter area to pick up other tourists before heading north.
We ultimately arrived at Ha Long Bay and made our way to the docks. Dozens of boats sat waiting for their respective passengers to arrive. Our tour guide stuck with us the entire trip. He led the way to our boat, helped us get settled in for lunch, and explained the schedule for the day to us along the way. There were several other tour groups on the same boat, and even though it felt a little crowded, I was too distracted the wonder of Ha Long Bay to care!
The set menu lunch was served as soon as the cruise pulled out of the docking area. Fish, vegetables, rice, and spring rolls were on the menu and served family style to each table of six, meaning my mother and I sat with four other members of our tour group.
After about an hour of boating through the limestone creations, we arrived at our first island. Head up to the top deck of the boat to look out into the vast open landscape! The windows inside the boat obstruct much of your view. As we passed each island, we could see the overgrown jungle forestation clearly. It was beautiful to see against the aqua-green water!
Here, we got off the boat and had the opportunity to climb a couple hundred steps to the very top, which was exhausting but absolutely worth the magnificent view of the islets rising from the ocean!
The second part of our adventure involved walking through one side of an island and out the other through a massive cave with three separate chambers. Words cannot describe how incredible it was to see! It reminded me that the rock islands were completely formed nature over the course of millions of years with no human intervention. There are very few parts of our world that remain that way.
Finally, we enjoyed a paddle boat trip in the bay! We were given two choices – to paddle yourself in a kayak or to join a small paddle boat where a local guide took you around the bay. I felt like an ant compared to the magnitude of the islands! To be so close to them and see the vegetation and wildlife was remarkable. We even got the chance to see some wild monkeys out and about in the trees! This took around 30 minutes although I wish it would have been longer. I could not get enough of how surreal the experience was!
Although our day was mostly overcast, we managed to get a bit of sunny skies towards the end of our trip on our ride back to the main docks. Watching the sun set over the 2,000 islets in the bay was spectacular! We received some traditional Vietnamese snacks for the ride back and had our last chance to take in the view from the top deck. It does not matter if you go on an overcast day or a sunny day, Ha Long Bay is certainly worth the trip!
Overall, it was a wonderful experience that I would recommend to anyone visiting northern Vietnam. There is no other place on Earth that is remotely similar to Ha Long Bay and it truly is a once in a lifetime experience. I enjoyed every bit of it and would have loved to take a longer tour (tours of two to three days are offered), but we only had time for a day trip. Even if that is the only time you do have, it is worth it.
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