Carnivals of Rust: Halong Bay

The one place which actually justifies the statement "Heaven on Earth". Breath taking sceneries, amazingly cold weather, a lovely 2 day cruise through the calm sea, a route filled with unexplored beaches, islands abd caves.. and all this available at just 4 hrs drive through the county side from Hanoi. What more can one ask for?

Well guys thats Halong Bay for you.

Imagine.. 3000 or more incredible Islands rising out of the calm and emrald green waters of the Gulf of Tonkin.. and all you have is a vision of breathtaking beauty. Halong bay is a true work of art, a priceless collection of unfinished sculptures hewn by mother nature's own hands. This place was recognised as a world heritage site in 1994, and is currenlty being considered to be included in the "New 7 wonders of the world".

Actually I was kind of wondering what is this hype around Halong bay. Right from the time I landed in Vietnam, I have been constantly getting to hear that I have to visit this place, else I am missing something in life, This is one must see place in Vietnam and even the New Zealander gal (read my previous post 'Experiences of an oriental World') had told me that she had come all the way to Vietnam to spend a week in Halong Bay. So I had made it a point that no matter what I would definitely visit this place during my short stay in Vietnam.

It was a early saturday morning. Temperature in Hanoi was around 12 degrees and we were off to Halong city. The drive through the country side was just amazing and my tour bus had an amazing blend of crowd. There were guys from China, Austrailia, Spain, Argentina, France and India.. [uhh.. that would be me and my colleague]. A couple of hours later we had reached Halong city, which looked just like a regular crowded port. After spending close to half an hour on formalities like passports,travel passes, tour maps etc, we finally were on the boat. And beleive me, my eyes were actually not ready for the treat they were about to get.

Within just 20 minutes our boat was away from the hustle bustle of the crowded port and we were slowly cruising the the calm sea waters. This place is filled with huge mountains protruding right from the sea water, plus a number of unexplored caves and beaches. I just could not believe that we were actually in aplace like this. Majestic, Mysterious, Inspiring, Imperious... No matter how hard I try, no amount of words can do justice to this wonderful place.

After cruising for close to about 3 hours throught the calm waters, we finally reached the one of the most famous caves here - Hang Dau Go.This is just one of those few caves that have actually been made tourist friendly with proper illumination, walk ways etc. The other not so privileged caves (actually the best caves for adrenaline junkies like me) are peppered through out the lime stone islands of Halong Bay. This was my very first experience inside a cave. The stalacmites were really huge and they were well illuminated to give the visitors a rich feel of the beauty of this place. There were also caves with extremely hostile environments.

Post the visit, we proceeded back towards the boat and had amazing vietnamese food in the boat itself and finally we reached Catba Island by close to 6 PM in the evening. This was our halt for the night. A lovely small little island some 8 hours from Halong city, the place where we started the cruise. I spent the entire evening in this lonely little island with very few tourists. (Most of them spend the night in the boat itslef, without stepping onto land). It was an awesome experience. Away, far away from the maddening crowd, deadlines by bosses, commitments, responsibilities etc. This was the time and place just meant for you to be YOU ! I still remember at one point, I was all alone on the beach late in the night, I was just lying on the Hammock, staring at the star studded sky, cold wind brushing on my face and I just thanked God from the bottom of my heart for bringing me here and I am not ashamed to say that my eyes did moisten up a bit.. :)

The second day had something even better on store. Right from the amazing view of sunrise by the beach to the trekking done at "Monkey Islads", everything was just picture perfect.

All in all, I can understand the excitement and the flutter associated with this place. It truly is a marvellous place and one must find and excuse to visit this place atleast once in her / his lifetime. Gievn a chance I would love to fly there again !!! :)

I am posting a few pics that I had clicked for you to get a feel of this place.. I am deliberately leaving these snaps without any captions as I am sure that your imaginations would describe this place even better... :)