Ha Long Bay, Vietnam (March 2018)

Surely, Ha Long Bay is the highlight of this tour. It is one of the most celebrated attractions in Vietnam. Ha Long means Descending Dragon. So it is the bay of descending dragon. The thousands of islands scattered in the bay may look like dragons crawling around.

After we left Da Nang by flight and arrived at Hanoi, we continued our travel by bus to Ha Long Bay. In distance, we were able to see some of the limestone islands rising out of the sea, creating a truly magical scene.

On the way to Ha Long Bay, we saw a huge Sam Sung factory complex consisting of six factories. Sam Sung invested USD 40 billion in this complex that now provides 150,000 jobs, operating 24 hours in 3 shifts.

Also, on the way to Ha Long Bay and on our return, we stopped over at a factory and comfort stop. The factory was opened in 1996 by the owner who has two disable children. Because of his own disabled children, he has decided to hire people with disabilities for 70% of his workers. Moreover, most of them are victims of Agent Orange that they claim the US military forces used during the Vietnam War. Some of them were deaf and others had physical handicaps. Their product quality was quite impressive. 

 

Ha Long Bay is located northeast of Vietnam and inside Tonkin Gulf. It is known for its emerald water and thousands of towering limestone islands, over 3,000 of which 1,000 have their own names. This UNESCO world heritage site covers the area of 1,553 km2.

After Ha Long Bay became popular, the Vietnamese government chose to develop the area with more hotels and other amusement facilities. Obviously, what Ha Long Bay is known for is gradually losing its own attractiveness. There are cable cars that have two Guinness World Records. One is the most number of passengers that a cable car can carry and the cable car itself is the highest. It is a double deck cable car and I have never seen such a big cable car.

Also, the town is developing casinos, condominiums, restaurants, cafes and amusement facilities most of which, unfortunately, were almost empty. I am sure they are making all these developments in anticipation of the growing population and the tourists. For now, they were pretty empty. Two of the fellow travel mates went to the casino, but they were the only guests. They felt quite embarrassed and came out. So, go figure.

On the way to Ha Long Bay, we stopped over at a pearl factory. We learned how pearls are cultured (compared to natural pearl) collected and processed. Depending on the types of oysters - there are three and they focus on Akoya oyster pearls - they culture the pearls for one, four or five years. Not all oysters produce usable pearls, but even unsuccessful pearls are used for making cosmetics. Obviously, they hoped to make some sales in the showroom after the presentation, but the prices were pretty high.

The following day was a cruise day in the Ha Long Bay. Early in the morning, all boats full of passengers were spreading out to the bay area. We were heading out to the sun so the photos were not good, but on the way back, we could take good photos. Meanwhile, the scenery was breath-taking and heavenly. Long time ago, sea beds rose up and have been eroded by water and winds over time, producing such beautiful scenery of islands. These islands are the same types as the equally magically beautiful mountains in Guilin along the Yi River.

On the islands, monkeys and cobras are living. We learned that King Cobras eat only cobras. We reached a cave called Hang Sung Sot and explored the cave. It was quite wide and spacious inside. But we had to pass through narrow pathways to the inside. Many lime stones are still in process.

The return trip was even more wonderful. Breathtaking. Panoramic. Tranquil. Refreshing. Now the sun was in our back and we could take better photos. We all enjoyed the view and sea breeze on the boat.

On the tour together were one Korean American, Paul, and a Chinese American, Danny, and a Japanese American. Paul and Danny are both radiologists and the Japanese American was a retired dentist. We shared a chat on the deck of the boat on the way back.

The tour leader was Steve, a Vietnamese young man, who was so courteous and friendly. He was going out of the way to meet the needs of all on board. We were lucky to have him as the tour leader. 

Due to the unearthly beauty of Ha Long Bay, several movies were filmed here. Five movies have been filmed in Ha Long Bay, including Indochine, Pan and the most recent one Kong: Skull Island. The 007 movie Tomorrow Never Dies was planning to film it but was unsuccessful in obtaining permission from the authorities at the last minute. Hmmmm... 

I am not sure if I want to come back to Ha Long Bay since it is gradually developing more and more like a Las Vegas type of town and losing its natural beauty, but for now, we were happy to have enjoyed the remaining beauty and charm of the Ha Long Bay. - Jeffrey