Tuesday 12 November 2024

Halong Bay (Quang Ninh), Vietnam:  We were awake in plenty of time to go to the front of the ship and enjoy the passage among the many, many small but very tall islands as we entered the bay.

It’s hot and hazy, but looks like it’ll be a clear day. Soon, we were docked near the city. We enjoyed breakfast in our stateroom, where we had a great view of the Sun Wheel (a huge Ferris wheel) and the cable car that runs across the bay from one part of the city to the other, as well as the suspension bridge that does the same. Soon, a huge Celebrity ship pulled up to the other side of the pier, blocking our views quite effectively. The dock area became a chaos of busses, cars and

 pedestrians as people gathered for their morning excursions. After lunch, we joined a tour group (amid similar managed chaos), to sail among the islands and climb through the amazing

Thien Cung Cave. It involved a lot of steps, up and down, but these caves, with huge rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites are truly awesome. We took many photos, but none will begin to do justice to the reality.

Emerging from there, we sailed much closer to many of the strange and unique islands that dot the bay. Again the photos can’t do them justice. Legend has it that they are the result of a dragon that landed here and thrashed about. Or died and fell to pieces. It was unclear. Our guide was enthusiastic and eager to share much information but I often could not understand him. He did 

point out the tiny fishing boats, and explained that whole families live on board. It’s been their way of life for at least 100 years and it’s a precarious existence. They are mostly illiterate and innumerate. Children, now, are required to go to school and only see their families a couple of times a month. We also saw and heard about the devastation caused by a typhoon that struck here in September of this year, wiping out whole neighbourhoods, damaging boats and taking all the gondolas off the huge Ferris wheel. Back from the tour, hot, sweaty and tired, we rested for a while; then we went to an early dinner. Again, we enjoyed the company of two other couples. The show in the theatre was an amazing tenor from Australia, singing songs from famous musicals. After enjoying that, we turned in early. It’s still not entirely clear to our bodies that time has flipped and day is night.

Photos of the Day