Ha Long Bay, part one

The Vietnamese Tourist Industry is rightly exploiting their natural treasure(s) in order to bring prosperity to the country.  Ha Long Bay is a must-see tourist destination, and the rest of the tourists boarded their respective boats and sailed off.  We boarded our junk, which slept about 30 people in total, and sailed off in procession to find our mooring spot.  The weather was overcast, and somewhat cooler than the south of the country, but comfortable compared to the UK at around 18 degrees C.

This is what our boat looked like, with the transfer junk towing behind it

Our room was comfortable

Sailing towards the islands

Bia Ha Noi - Hanoi Beer

After lunch on board we were taken to one of the islands to see a famous limestone cave.  Whilst not my favourite of pastimes, it would have been amiss to miss it.  As it was the cave was immense - much larger than any cave I'd been in on the school geography trips in the late 1970's.

Nice to see what Ha Long Bay looks like on a sunny day...

The view from the entrance to the cave - we'd climbed quite a few steps 

So, then we went into the depths of the island.  This part of the holiday for me felt the most manufactured, the most packaged, but I can't see how else it could have been presented without spending a substantial amount to reserve a more exclusive part of Ha Long Bay (if that option existed).  So we queued and followed our leader into the cave.  The size of it can be judged by the figures in the photos.

Stalagtites or mites?  Not easy to get a good focus on the camera when you're conscious of not losing your guide.

Slightly better focus here, good lighting colours.

And then what else would you like to do when in Ha Long Bay - how about swimming?  In the rain?  Yep, our group were the only people on board who opted for swimming, so we took the transfer boat to Dao Ti Top island, and the brave went for a swim.

Tourists from another boat, gain admission to the island to climb to the summit to take photos

The island is called Dao Ti Top after the USSR cosmonaut Giec Man Ti Top who visited it with Ho Chi Minh on 22.11.1962.

Our transfer boat waiting to take us back.  The bowl of water is to wash the sand off people's feet to prevent taking it on board the junk.

That evening we were given a cookery demonstration in the dining room, where the chef cooked about 3 dozen king prawns in vodka over hot rocks.  Unfortunately I had my camera battery on charge in the bedroom, and couldn't take any photos.  As we went to bed that evening I took a wobbly watery impression of the shimmering lights of another boat in the bay...

Ha Long Bay's natural darkness interrupted by boat lights

That's the end of day one in Ha Long Bay.  More next time.  ttfn.  Kat.