Bays of descending dragons

Ha Long Bay

On the deck at night

We decided to take a two day cruise on a junk with Rosa Cruises to explore the magnificent Bay of Descending Dragons (commonly known as Ha Long Bay). This was a beautiful small but luxurious boat with cosy bedrooms with double bed and tiny ensuite bathroom, dining/living room for about 12 people and an upstairs open area for viewing the scenery and doing the morning Tai Chi class.

The bay consists of nearly 2,000 limestone islands topped with lush trees and greenery, looking like huge boulders dropped in the ocean by a marauding giant. The story in Vietnam more runs along the line of a family of dragons deciding to stay around after protecting the local population from marauders. Some of the islands are hollow with caves.

We visited the Hang Sung Sot cave. The cave was humungous, which was good considering the stream of people moving through it in single file. Large stalagtites and stalagmites and rock formations were lit with different coloured lights to give an expansive romantic feel to the whole experience, which included a panoramic view of the surrounding bay. It took almost an hour to get through the cave.

The days were filled with activities which included kayaking around one of the islands. We were also treated to a cooking class making the fabulous fried spring rolls with rice paper that we made vegetarian and were naturally gluten free. As it approached evening we went swimming off the side of the boat, but after a jellyfish scare swimming didn't last much longer, and we were contented with a huge dinner of Vietnamese dishes followed by sunset and moonlit views of the bay. As the evening drew to a close a crew member treated us to a song while playing his guitar. A magical time and I would thoroughly recommend at least one night on the bay. I doubt a day trip would have been as satisfying.

Free entertainment

Cooking class

Sunset from the boat

View from the cave

Tam Coc

Tam Coc in the Ninh Binh Province is well known as the Bay of Descending Dragons on Land (or the more common title Ha Long Bay on land). This is predictably because it has the same feature of green topped rock formations sprouting out of the ground everywhere. The best way to see them is on a boat ride on the river that goes through three natural tunnels. The boat ride itself is part of the adventure as they are rowed by women who mostly use their bare feet. They are incredibly adept and fast and it is quite a unique spectacle. While pondering this feat your senses are assaulted by amazing scenery and the rocks jutting out all around you when suddenly she rows you right into a cave. Dark and low you are ducking the rocks that seem inches from your head and then you come out into the sunlight on the other side. There are two more caves before you turn around and come back again. It's worth coming to this area for that boat trip alone.

We then went by bicycle for about 3km on roads with more stunning scenery to the Bich Dong Pagoda. This 15th century pagoda is built into the side of a mountain on three levels and is a fascinating amalgamation of ancient monuments with the natural environment.

And so ends our trip to Vietnam. Well, technically it did not end there. It ended in Hanoi, which featured in the last post, but I hope you can see why I wanted to put these two unique but intertwined places together in the one post. That was the end of this travel experience and we put Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam behind us and headed home, that is until our next travel experience in Central America...

Sapa has a Fansipan Mountain but Hanoi is the Motorcycle City

It took a 12 hour overnight train to Hanoi, several hours enjoying the ambience, food and street view of the second floor of a nearby vegan restaurant (The Veg), and then a 6 hour capsule bus ride to get to Sapa, but it was worth the trip. Again proving how varied and delightful is the scenery of Vietnam, Sapa was cool, green, wet and high (about 1,500m). Surrounded by mountains, tribes and rice fields it could arguably be called the hiking capital of Vietnam.

Sapa Lake

We settled into the Paris Boutique Hotel with glorious views of the Sapa Lake, having been upgraded to the top floor due to a lack of visitors at this time of year. It was a luxurious room, we were well looked after and it was only about $35 AU per night if memory serves me correctly, one of our more expensive stays.

Town space for activities

We spent a large portion of time here (day and night) exploring the town by walking randomly. Taking in the community atmosphere with the well used public spaces made available, and the marvellous scenery from all of the different vantage spots. Not easy considering this is not a flat town. Several day trips took us into the more mountainous regions. 

Dancing in the park

Fansipan Mountain from the edge of town

Ham Rong Mountain

Day one was a hike through Ham Rong Mountain, walking distance from the town and boasting amazing gardens full of sculptures, lakes and flowers, culminating at an altitude of 1,800m on a platform with panoramic views around the town and surrounding countryside.

Day two was a cable car ride up Vietnam's highest point, the peak of Fansipan Mountain. This was not any normal cable car, why do things by half, but the longest non-stop 3 roped cable car in the world at 6,295m. Not content to stop there it also had the highest elevation change of a 3 roped cable car in the world, taking us up a further 1,410m. The ride was beyond scenic taking us over picturesque rice paddies that are the trademark of most photos on websites about Sapa. The adventure continues with a further train ride to the peak. The top was COLD so make sure you come prepared no matter what the weather down below is and you will be rewarded with amazing breathtaking views whenever those pesky clouds open up and reveal the hidden treasure beneath. We spent a few hours here as we struggled to tear ourselves away from the stunning views.

 Hanoi

Once we left Sapa we went back to Hanoi for a day before a tour out to Ha Long Bay, but I am going to break with tradition and discuss our time at Hanoi now so that third and second last locations can share the final chapter on Vietnam. You will understand why when you read it.

Playing Mahjong at a Pagoda

Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, can arguably be called the motorcycle city with its over 4 million plus motorbikes sloshing around the streets like a rushing river. Crossing the street is an adventure sport. It also has a fascinating mix of old and new with many old districts and centuries old architecture, lovely parks and lakes that made aimless wandering around the streets, especially at night, a pure joy.

We made numerous exploratory walks around the nearby Hoan Kiem Lake and the surrounding architecture which included the Hanoi Opera House. We also watched a show at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, which I really enjoyed. Puppets on water controlled by puppeteers in the water themselves behind a screen with live cultural music. Finally we took a day trip from a tour operator across the road from our hotel, visiting the final resting place of Ho Chi Minh, the humble house he lived in on stilts (because he refused more opulent surroundings), the Tran Quoc Pagoda on the huge West Lake and St Joseph's Cathedral among other things.

Hanoi was a nice, relaxing, diverse and architecturally interesting place to finish our trip and we left with many fond memories and fun and interesting experiences of our time in Vietnam.

St Joseph's Cathedral

St Joseph's Cathedral at night

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre

Aerobics in the park

Ho Chi Minh's very modest house

Ho Chi Minh's house outside

The place he did not like to stay in

Tran Quoc Pagoda

Tran Quoc Pagoda

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Crossing the street

Mountains of Marble and a Dragon Bridge

Reluctantly we left Hoi An (old town) to explore the beaches of Da Nang. Da Nang was only about an hour away and the trip passed the fabulous Marble Mountain, which we also wanted to visit, so we decided on taking a taxi that would wait for us so we could stop and do some exploring.

Awesome move. Marble Mountain is a cluster of five mountains named after the elements and the main tourist one, Thuy (water), contained some jaw dropping caves full of Buddhist carvings and icons. Get your walking shoes on and allow a couple of hours to explore the multitude of caves, walking trails, temples and gardens scattered across this mountain. Huyen Khong cave was my favourite as the scene opens up before you on entry, hugely expansive and high with a beam of light coming down from a hole in the top to illuminate majestically the sculptures and temples within.

Just outside is a rest area before heading to the stairs of the highest peak of this mountain. Elizabeth still suffering with her broken toe and using my hiking stick as a cane attempted to get to the top. As the steps became endless, steeper and less defined she questioned her ability to make it and sent me off ahead to see how much further. I sneakily kept finding better viewing spots higher up, if she could just get that far, until finally I reached the top. The view was breathtaking so I hurried down to share the news, which spurred Elizabeth on to make it to the top. Well worth the effort!

The view from the top

Just a few words of warning, The lady selling the tickets for the elevator ride up tried to tack on an expensive map without telling us, but we had been forewarned, and she quickly retrieved it once we complained. Also the famous cave here is the Am Phu Cave and it costs money to get in and is not that good, very ostentatious and fake looking with bright lights done up for tourists. If you make it to Huyen Khong cave and only have limited time I would skip it.

Dragon Bridge

Finally we made it to Da Nang, after exploring for an hour longer than we told the taxi driver. It was a large city, and we are generally NOT big city people, but it did have a few attractions for us. The beach of course, which was walking distance from our hostel and where the water was always warm and the ocean full of people. SOOOOOO relaxing and many friendly people. Also the Dragon Bridge that crosses the Han River and is, surprise, surprise, constructed in the shape of a dragon. It was a long walk from the hostel but an impressive structure with some nice areas along the river. Apparently on Saturday and Sunday nights there is an impressive show of fire breathing and water blowing but we came mid week and were not prepared to wait that long.

Da Nang

Hue

So after a few days of swimming we packed up and headed for the Imperial City of Hue. The Imperial City is a walled palace within the larger city of Hue and is its most impressive attraction. Building started in 1804 when Nguyen Anh took control of Vietnam, proclaimed himself Emperor and started the Nguyen dynasty. It was heavily damaged during the Vietnam war with the US but is still a pleasant day out with plenty to see. Lots of beautiful carvings and paintings, partly restored buildings, gardens and lakes.

We spent a whole day there and left just as it was starting to rain. We wanted to do a dragon boat ride on the river but as it was getting late we tried to find transportation. We settled for one of the recommended taxis after a tuk tuk driver tried to charge us a small fortune. We were unlucky with him as well since my phone GPS told me he was driving us the long way around. I told him I knew what he was doing but he still went a bit out of the way and then took us to a dragon boat company that he knew. It was expensive and short but a pleasant ride nonetheless. Long story short, be careful here, it seemed a bit dodgier than most of Vietnam.

Time to move on to one of our longest journeys so far, an overnight train to Hanoi, followed by a long bus ride to Sapa and the highest mountain in Vietnam.