Out on Halong Bay

Shortly after leaving Halong City lunch was served on board the boat.

First stop on the Halong Bay tour.

Fairy lighting at the Thien Cung cave, Halong Bay.

This weathered old wooden tub was my cruise boat in Halong Bay.

Schoolhouse at a floating village, Halong Bay.

At the floating village, Halong Bay.

Cat Ba Town with pencil thin high rise hotels, Halong Bay

Halong Bay from the boat.

Halong Bay from the roof deck.

Halong Bay

OUT ON HALONG BAY, your find youself in the heart of one of Vietnam's most beautiful regions. Ha Long really means "descending dragon" but to my mind this place is as ethereal as it is mythic. Once again I also found myself at yet another UNESCO world heritage site.

Far, far back in time this limestone landscape had been pitted and eroded by rivers, but with successive ice ages the sea rose, filling in all the low land. The remaining islands are honeycombed with caves and grottos, In geological terms these weird and striking shapes, rising out of the bay, art part of a vast karst formation.

My journey began on a Monday morning with a four hour bus ride to Ha Long City. From there a group of us tourists boarded a beaten-up looking wooden boat for a cruise out into the archipelago. As we motored across the channel, lunch was served. The first island stop was at Thien Cung cave followed by a longer stop at a floating village. Most passengers went out on kayaks to explore the shoreline but I remained on the float, revellng in just watching the slow pace of village life across the date.

After a long day, the time came to retreat to the relatively roomy stateroom for a good night's sleep. With morning it was yet another cloudy day. This didn't take away from the magnificant setting - phantom islands shrouded in cloud that seemed to stretch out to the horizon. As we were moored off Cat Ba Island, the largest in the archipelago, we just went ashore and continued to Cat Ba City, by bus. The urban hub turned out to be a bleak facsimile of a seaside town with a formidable wall of high rise hotels. The harbour was photogenic enough with a large fleet of fishing boats, but behind the front road was a wall of anorexic architecture with cheesy facades that rose high above the tacky shops and forgetable restaurants. The afternoon was grey and cold and the surly locals clearly fatigued by tourists. Internet access was also challenging. It was time to default to escapism. A little shop across the street provided me with a cheap but impressive bottle of Beaujolais. With a decent appelation on the label the contents were put to good use by mid-evening. In the morning we made our way back to the boat by bus and then on to Halong City in the wooden tub before retuning to Hanoi.