Halong Bay

I’m lying in a very hard Vietnamese bed (sleeping in these types of beds takes some getting used to) writing from a large cruise ship on the Halong Bay. The best word to describe this place is magical. I attest to Lonely Planet also describing it as majestic and mysterious.

Halong translates to “where the dragon descends into the sea.” Legend has it that the islands were formed by a dragon that lived in the mountains. As it charged towards the coast, its flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses and upon assailing into the sea, the area filled with water leaving 2000 limestone islands that rise up over the horizon. They are all quite close together so to drift through them is an awe-inspiring experience. Being here makes you believe that story.

We drove over from Hanoi this morning which was about a 4 hour commute that felt like a simple 30 minutes. I’m now with my Intrepid tour group of 12 people: 8 Australians from all over the country (including Tasmania), two Columbians who live in Australia as students, an Englishman from Manchester, and me. Our tour guide, Quan, is a bowl full of energy and laughs. He loves to poke fun at anything (including himself) and share his culture with us.

The dock held hundreds of large, wooden cruise ships all closely situated. We were greeted onto our private vessel with a cold wash cloth and lunch of shrimp, calamari, pork, spinach, and pineapple. From lunch we gently floated through the islands, visited a tourist-crowded cave, and went for a refreshing swim before enjoying another delicious meal. My favorite part of the day was jumping off our three story ship into the warm water and get

ting my picture taken from a friend’s camera mid-air with the beautiful backdrop. Once he sends it to me it will be up online.