Good Morning Vietnam ... or Ha Long Bay to be exact!

I was fortunate enough to be able to return to Vietnam, two weeks after my trip to Ho Chi Minh City and although this trip was also part of work, it was with colleagues so it was a lot more relaxing and time to catch up with each other. The trip started at Ha Noi, where I had the pleasure to take a boat tide to view the karst landscape at Ha Long Bay and after that some sights around Ha Noi. And then it was to Sa Pa where I have to say I enjoyed myself the most during my stay in Vietnam this round.

For a start, let me share my Ha Noi experience. As mentioned, part of the visit included going out to Ha Long Bay, a must see because it's a UNESCO designated a section of the bay a World Heritage site, where you can find 2,000 karst islands rise from the waters of Ha Long Bay. 

It was believed that the thrashing tail of a dragon (Ha Long means 'dragon descending') created the seascape but ask any geologists and they will give you some explanation about how it took 300 million years of erosion and subduction to create such awesome landscape.

After boarding our own boat like the one below, we set off and it was pretty exciting for me having read about the landforms that waited ahead.

It took a while to get to the formation but it was definitely worth the wait. Like in Cambodia, when I visited the Floating Village, there were people on boats who would come up to try and sell fruits to the tourists. No different here.

It was about 9 plus in the morning and this was the sight that greeted us as we saw the formations from a far. But it was rather frustrating because the sun was shining so brightly (yes, I know this is suppose to be better than having a heavy downpour) and it made taking photographs so difficult. Everything turned out in different shades of grey! Yeah, a pro would probably know what to do but while trying to figure out how to get some shots while balancing on a moving boat (and praying that I don't fall off the boat) - it was tricky.

When we got closer, it got a little better and the idea for the photograph below was from the guide that was with us. He too was experimenting with his DSLR and suggested the shot below. Kinda interesting to have the dragon looking on since the myth behind the dragon's tail forming the karst landscape. For the locals, the fierce looking dragon heads are meant to ward evil spirits away from then fishing boats.

As the boat got closer, we had a better view of the formations. Very exciting for a geography person like me. Wished I had the opportunity to bring the older students here to talk about the formation. We also docked for an hour as we visited a limestone cave, Hang Thien Cung.

Below is a view of the bay from a high point and the boats below are waiting for the many visitors to the bay. There are also those who stay overnight on the boat so they were docked at the jetty and we could here them singing away.

And to meet our needs, there was a floating supermarket (see below) where we could buy snacks for our boat trip back.

Back on the boat and with the sun not being so sunny, I was able to take some photographs. It also meant, dashing in and out of the boat because fresh seafood was being served *grins* on the boat yes.

On the lunch menu included the crabs below. Yup, boiled crabs that we had to pry open to get to the meat. It was fresh no doubt but give me chilli crabs anytime *grins*

We also came across another interesting rock landform which the locals refer to as the 'fighting cocks' because the two rock structures look like they are fighting each other. Look hard and you can see at some point they were one large rock before the elements got to them and split them apart.

Pretty awesome close up of the rocks below. From the size of the boats, you can get a better picture of how huge they are.

It was a good trip to Ha Long Bay and I would definitely like to revisit the area again some day. Now if you want major pampering and stay overnight onboard (and don't mind splurging some), one option could be the Victory Cruise which looks might fancy. Nice!

Once we got back to land, we headed to the train station for our 9 hour overnight trip to Sa Pa. You can take a look at the options available on this website. The most luxurious would be the Victoria Express Train where you would have to stay at least a night at the Victoria Hotel Resort at Sa Pa (if I had the money, I sure would!). What I was told that the next best two would be the Fansipan Train and the Livitrains. We had to take Livitrains because we couldn't get two way tickets for Fansipan. So next trip there, I would definitely like to try Fansipan. There are different bunkers to choose from. We were on the four bunk per room which is super tight and it's split two levels. There are also two bunks per room available if you're traveling pair. Also the photos you see online, its much smaller than what you think. We had to slide our bags under the small side table. Easier if you have an over-nighter but we had our luggages with us. Also, don't depend on the staff to give you a wake up call because it ended up to be a mad rush as we only had a few minutes by the time she came to us. And with a toilet per carriage, it means having to share with heaps other people. So wake up earlier so that you can wash up in peace *grins*