I was adventurous this morning and had Pho Bo for breakfast, beef noodle soup. The chef cooked the noodles in front of me before adding them and some cooked thinly sliced beef to a bowl. Then cubes of beef were cooked and added before some spring onions and beef broth. It was really nice and not as filling as it sounds!
Picture 1 -Breakfast
We checked out of the hotel this morning and got on the bus to Ha Long Bag. The first part of the journey was through the busy streets that we had already experienced, with traffic appearing from every direction. Then the road became wider. For some distance we were beside a colourful mosaic wall. At 8km long it is the world’s longest mosaic wall. However it was too far away and we were travelling too fast to make out much of what was on it.
Once again our guide Vinh (whose name means “glory”) gave us so much information. In fact too much to take in although some bits did register with me.
Vietnam is a long, thin country running from North to south. At its widest point it is 400km, at its narrowest only 14km and it is 2000km from North to south. The population is 100 million. 75% of the country is mountainous, some of it high mountains but the areas we visit are all in the lower part. To the north it is bordered by China and the mountains form a natural border, on the other side of the mountains. To the west are Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. There are 3 regions in Vietnam and 61 provinces. Vietnam is the greatest exporter of rice (at 800 million tonnes per year), especially from the Mekong Delta where there can be three or four crops in the year. 90% of Samsung products are made in Vietnam.
We had a rest stop at a craft place which employs disabled people. America had destroyed much of the area with pesticide, Agent Orange, which had disastrous side effects on the local people. We saw silk weaving being done and also lots of the resulting products, all of which were really beautiful.
Less than two hours later we reached Ha Long Bay. This World Heritage site is a large bay full of limestone islets, or karsts, which rise from the green of the sea and are covered in greenery themselves. There are 1969 karsts (I’m so glad I wasn’t the one who had to count them) which have been formed, initially by the decay of coral reefs due to volcanic activity which created calcium carbonate. Over hundreds of years this then compresses to form limestone which was then eroded by thousands of years of rain to give what can be seen today. The karsts are full of grottos, inlets and caves and make the view as you pass through the bay spectacular.
Ha Long translates as “where the dragon descends into the sea“. The legend is that the islands of Ha Long Bay were created by a great dragon that lived in the mountains. As it charged towards the coast, its flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses. When it finally plunged in to the sea, the area filled with water, leaving only the pinnacles visible.
We boarded our ship, the Bhaya Classic III, and set sail for our two night cruise through Ha Long Bay. The boat is modelled on a traditional Chinese junk with teak decorations and furnishings. It’s really nice. Once we had got settled in we sat down for our first meal onboard – a 5 course lunch. The food was nice, especially the main course of linguine with bolognaise sauce! The course size was nice as well, not too much.
Picture 2 – Our Ha Long Bay Boat
During lunch the ship had been cruising through Ha Long Bag, past Fighting Cock Islet to and area called Trinh Nu. The views were amazing – just what I wanted to come here to see! The karst rise up from the sea and are covered in vegetation, at their base they are being eroded by the sea water so a lot of them have some undercutting or small caves. I think I’ll be taking a lot of photos! I kept getting up during lunch to take pictures!
Picture 2 – Ha Long Bay
Here we moored up and set out to explore Trinh Nu Cave and Beach. First however, I went kayaking around Trinh Nu Lagoon! I’ve never been kayaking before, but it was straight forward enough and by the time we finished I think I had got the hang of it!
Trinh Nu Cave is one of the finest sunlight-filled caves in Ha Long Bay with stunning stalactites and stalagmites. We walked through the cave to get to the beach, I’ve never seen stalactites and stalagmites so big! I even saw some bats flitting about. We could only see a small portion of the cave – it went further back and covers nearly 2,000m2. The beach was in a little inlet and was really picturesque – until you saw all the plastic lying around which sort of spoiled it a bit. The water was warm as well – rather than our North Sea where you risk pneumonia every time you take a swim!
Picture 3 – The Cave and Beach
We returned to the ship and relaxed for a little before there was a cooking demonstration on the top deck. In this we were shown how to make deep fried spring rolls and flower decorations from vegetables. I rolled my first ever spring roll – I then rolled another with my eyes closed!
Dinner tonight was another 5-course affair. I think they’ll have to roll Mum and I down the gangplank when we get back to dock!!
Picture 4 – Ha Long Bay at Night
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