Halong Bay Hotels
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Halong Bay and the Emeraude
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On this overcast and drizzly morning, our tour bus pulls out of Hanoi and heads north for the 2-hour drive to Halong Bay, the best known natural wonder of Vietnam. The drive through this fast-changing agricultural and industrial region is a study of Vietnam life.
Out in the fields, rice crops are being planted. Cone shaped hats protect their faces from the sun and rubber boots protect their feet from the cold water of the rice field. Our tour bus makes a brief stop and the women accommodate our cameras by standing up and smiling. They plant 2-3 crops per year and the average pay is $2 per day. Oxen cost $1,000 each so this farmer is doing well.
We drive through small towns whose buildings and streets are blackened from the nearby coal mines. The income from coal is poor so most of the mines are owned by outside interests.
We make a quick stop at a large warehouse selling hand-made Vietnamese items. They were created by survivors of Agent Orange from the Vietnam War. Some of the financing for this facility and the housing facility behind actually comes from American Vietnam vets. Pretty inspiring and beautiful handcrafts.
A second stop is at a pottery factory. The dirt sidewalks wind around buildings filled with various stages of pottery. In one open building, women are squatting down and quickly painting segments of scenery on pots.
Another building lies buried in a hillside and has smoke billowing from it. A closer look finds a man throwing logs into contained fires that heat the dirt and create a kiln. Green ware sits everywhere along these heated berms.
We pull into the harbor of Halong Bay and walk down a long dock to the small shuttle boats that will ferry us out to our ship, the Emeraude.
The Emeraude is a replica of the classic steamships from colonial era French Indochina.
Our cabin is one of 38 and is located on the first of three levels. I snap my reflection outside our stateroom window!
The 80-seat restaurant is located on the second deck and is a warm retreat for meals or just sipping on wine and watching the spectacular scenery outside.
Halong mean "descending dragon" bay and we're told that in ancient times, when the Vietnamese were fighting against enemies from the North, the gods sent a family of dragons to their aid. The dragons descended to earth in the location of Halong Bay. Upon hitting the sea, they spit out jewels and jade that became the current islands and provided a refuge.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the bay features a dense concentration of limestone karsts and stone islands that number around 2,000. Most rise sharply out of the bay and are uninhabited.
Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves.
We board a shuttle boat for an excursion to Surprise Cave which is located in a snug but busy cove.
One of the area's largest and most impressive limestone caverns, the entrance requires a short hike up several flights of stone steps high above the bay. The picture above-left shows the cave's entrance as viewed from the boat.
This busy cove is like a step back in time. Stone steps lead upward then downward to the first of three chambers of stalactites, stalagmites, and graffitti written 40-70 years ago. During the Vietnam war, N. Korea used these caves as a field hospital.
Around 1600 people live on Halong bay scattered around 4 fishing villages.
We are welcomed by a small committee of leaky rowboats sporting children selling bananas or shells.
One or two boats come prepared with a small inventory of groceries. The vendors expertly gage how closely they can rock up next to the Emeraude and are unconcerned by the churning muddy water spreading out around them.
All the villages will be gone in the near future because of conservation efforts.
The sky has been overcast and as evening approaches, instead of a sunset, the fog rises and a damp chill surrounds us.
We wrap ourselves in layers of blankets and just smile when fellow tour-mates chide us about our thin Arizona skin.
We sit on the decks' chaise lounges and watch as the peaks surrounding us disappear within the fog and the night air. The deck is quiet as our fellow passengers have retreated to the warmth of the restaurant or the cabins and just a handful have braved the quiet nightfall.
At 9:00pm, the cruise offers a viewing of the movie, Indochine. The movie was filmed in 1992 and used Halong Bay as a backdrop. We pass on the movie and retreat to our cabin for a full-body massage we had scheduled earlier in the day. Within an hour, the Tiger Balm oil that was aggressively massaged into our backs and legs has created a warming sensation and taken the evening's chill away.
Where I stayed:
Emeraude cruise boat
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