Halong Bay is one of the most famous travel destinations in Vietnam, and is located in the northern part of the country. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay has an area of about 1,553 km2, and contains about 1960 limestone islets. The islets are beautiful, and the limestone in the bay has taken about 20 million years of tropical storm impact to develop.
We traveled to Halong Bay the morning of June 20th, and immediately boarded our Chinese-style junk boat to begin our overnight cruise through the bay. I didn’t realize that my time on the boat would be the highlight of my trip thus far.
This is a photo of our junk boat:
I didn’t know what to expect of our overnight boat, but considering how it’s called a “junk” boat I didn’t set my expectations too high. I figured we would be sleeping in bunk beds and sharing a communal bathroom. Instead I was given a private room, with a large bed, an ensuite bathroom and air conditioning! It was amazing! The boat also had a large dining room, and a lounge area on the roof of the boat.
Once we set sail the view was beautiful. All you can see are islets for miles and miles! It`s absolutely breathtaking in every direction!
After eating a delicious seafood lunch, we stopped at the Hang Sung Sot Cave, which was discovered by the French in 1901. It is located on Bo Hon Island, and has a number of vast champers where people used to hide inside during bad storms. The cave is incredible inside, and it’s absolutely huge!
The view from the top of the cave was incredible:
After leaving the cave, we made a stop at another one of the islets to go swimming, but we first climbed to the top to see the view:
Swimming in the water was so refreshing (especially after the strenuous and hot climb to the top to take photos!). Everywhere you look you can see the beautiful islets. I was in heaven!
Later that evening we enjoyed the sunset from the boat:
I spent part of the night on the roof of the boat watching the stars and enjoying the peacefulness of the bay. This is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
The following morning I woke up at 5:15 to watch the sunrise over the islets. Even though I was exhausted, it was well worth it!
A bit later in the morning we hopped into some kayaks to explore the bay at a different level.
It was so much fun paddling around through the water and caves in the bay!
The two days at Halong Bay were amazing! It was so beautiful and relaxing. Being on the boat also gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with people on the tour that I had grown close to before the tour ended later that night. It was a great way to end my 25 day Contiki tour.
Wow the junk boat sounds like a pretty nice way to travel, although the name doesn't necessarily convey that. Love the photos as always. Say hi to Madeleine for me! xo H.
ReplyDeleteThe overnight boat through Halong Bay was definitely the highlight of my trip too! Such a relaxing way to finish a great week after all the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi. Oh and the caves blew me away, never seen a cave that big before.
ReplyDeleteThe only downside was the weather, it was really foggy on the bay and only just warm enough to swim, although looking at your photos it looks like you had amazing weather.