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Day 13
Ha Long Bay
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| "Ache Ease" suppliment |
Because the ship was docking later at 11 am, Dave the activity director, asked me do an extra tai chi class in the morning. Again the class was quite well attended and I become more practiced at moving all of the chairs out of the way to increase the standing space. This time, before the main class, I taught the early arrivals silk reeling, as a way of extending some of the tai chi concepts I had introduced during the previous classes.
Later, Frances and I attended a quite informative presentation by a young Chinese medicine practitioner. We were fortunate to arrange short free consultations from her following the presentation. She made quick diagnoses of us, just looking at our faces tongue and pulse and made some very perceptive diagnoses of our underlying health conditions. Ric bought some quite expensive ache relief capsules from her and only time will tell if they are effective or not.
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| Entering Ha Long City harbour |
Through the morning mist, the ship slowly entered Ha Long City harbour but we hardly recognized it as the place we visited 19 years ago.
The port had been completely rebuilt in the intervening years, and the traditional timber junks used to take tourists out into Ha Long had been completely replaced with more modern boats.
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| View of the city from the port |
Ha Long had grown considerably into a small city with towering office blocks, a funicular, multi-storey hotels and apartment buildings.
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| The ticket seller |
Many of the buildings were empty, unfinished or abandoned completely. Some guarded locals told us that this was due to non-compliance by corrupt developers and an over-estimation of how much of a tourist attraction the city would become - it was a cause of some embarrassment to the locals.
We went ashore, along a very long wharf to the combined port and bus terminal. We decided to explore the area and found that it was actually some distance from the main city.
It was interesting to still see some of the older buildings, including older British style terrace houses, many of which had shops or restaurats on the street frontage.
On our return to the port we bought tickets for a tour of Ha Long Bay in the afternoon from one of the many ticket sellers. I photographed him so that we could find him again on our return.
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| The sea side of the port and bus terminal |
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| Buses at the port |
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| Old and new in Ha Long City |
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| Old terrace style houses |
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| Shops and terrace houses |
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| Ha Long City view |
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| Ha Long Bay tours map |
In the afternoon, Louise and Alan joined us for the boat trip into Ha Long Bay - fortunately we found both our ticket seller and our boat, the Vinh Xanh 68. The only other passengers were a group of ladies from the Phillippines.
Not only had Ha Long changed, but the traditional timber junks used to take tourists out into Ha Long had been completely replaced with more modern boats.
We were supposed to leave at 2pm, but we didn't start until after 2:30 pm and given the misty weather, were not sure that we would see very much before the sun set as it started to become quite dark with the mist over the water
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| Typical new Ha Long Bay boat |
The boat motored for about 50 minutes into Ha Long Bay where we landed on one of the major islands, Dong Thien Gong, to visit its caves.
Not only had the town of Ha Long changed considerably since our last visit, but visitation to the islands has massively increased, neccessitating the need for much more infrastructure to support the increased number of tourists.
The caves interiors were as incredible as before, but now had quite comfortable paved steps and walkways. These have reduced the amount of dust stirred up by tourists which has been settling on the limestone formations and degrading them.
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| Boats heading out into the bay |
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| Inside the Vinh Xanh 68 |
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| Louise, Alan and Frances |
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| Top deck of the Vinh Xanh 68 |
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| In Ha long Bay |
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| Rock formation featured on the 200,000 dong note |
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| Dong Thien Gong map |
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| Dong Thien Gong harbour |
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| On the way to the caves |
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| Path on the island |
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| Steps up to the cave entrance |
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| Pause for a photo |
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| Ha Long City in the distance |
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| Looking down on Dong Thien Gong harbour |
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| Cave interior |
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| Louise, Ric, Frances and Alan |
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| Climbing up steps |
As part of the tour the boat motored to the nearby Dua Go grotto where we boarded a small dinghy and one of the crew paddled us towards the grotto. He paddled us through a small gap into what looked like a volcanic crater surrounded by high walls. It was quite eerie and still, with the sound of sea hawks echoing off the rock walls.
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| Leaving Dong Thien Gong |
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| Approaching the grotto |
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| Captain and crew |
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| Entering the grotto |
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| Don't rock the boat!! |
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| Inside the grotto looking out |
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| Characteristic rock formation |
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| Much-photographed rock formation |
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| In Ha Long Bay |
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| Nicely presented entree |
The boat returned in the dark with misty rain and it was a welcoming site to see the lights of Ha Long as we arrived back.
It was a long day and we were relieved to be back on board the ship to have a shower and rest before dinner. Again we had a very nice meal with some interesting variations on typical dishes.
