Vietnam: Ha Long Bay - visiting one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature
- Where To Go Next By I&P
- Feb 11, 2023
- 4 min read
Less than 200km away from Hanoi lies one of the new 7 wonders of nature, the famous Ha Long Bay, where karst mountains covered with vegetation are coming out of the sea like some giant deities.
We took a "limousine" bus to go from Hanoi to the town of Ha Long. This 2.5h ride cost us 16USD/pax but we couldn't find a cheaper option on this first day of the New Year of the Cat 🐱.
It was a long, nice morning drive on a highway but with some stunning views of wide rivers and fields.
As we were approaching Ha Long, we started to see the familiar monoliths or karst mountains that are featured in so many movies.
Ha Long is the most famous city along the bay and is divided by a sort of strait connected by a gorgeous bridge.
Our hotel was located on the east side of Ha Long, in one of the posh areas of the town. There, you have long avenues with a lot of restaurants and shops on each side.
In the middle of the town, some magnificent karst mountains were surrounded by a wealthy neighborhood with fancy houses and an abundance of bonsai trees. Nevertheless, the constant smell of sewage, the mega tourism shown by the loud music of bars and cafes, may have driven locals out of there.
As we were walking along the shore and looking at the sea, we could admire the numerous monoliths that extended as far as the eye can see, only slightly hidden by fog.
There was some trash on the bay but it was not as bad as we were expecting based on some comments online. Still the smell of sewage was really strong sometimes. 😱
Those strange karst mountains are the result of thousands and thousands of years of erosion on a limestone plateau that was pushed up to the air by tectonic forces.
Nature has its ways of creating such magnificent landscapes!
We had the opportunity to take a 6h boat ride around Ha Long Bay for 850k VND/ pax. A little bit pricey but at least we didn't have to plan anything.
After being picked up at our hotel and dropped off at the ticket office where we joined the rest of the group, we boarded our boat, the magnificent Thang Loi 88. I am joking of course, as it was an old boat resembling more a floating restaurant 😫. And we did have lunch there (and luckily we didn't get sick!) while cruising on the bay.
Our first stop after having passed beautiful islets, is Sung Sot Cave.
We had to go up a few flights of stairs to get to the cave itself. It was a very large cave that was going very deep into the mountain.
It was well lit, with a clear pathway leading us to a very large chamber with high ceilings, where there was a small hole letting the sunlight through.
We then got back on the boat to reach Hang Luon Cave. It is a passage under a mountain that you can cross by bamboo boat or kayak.
If you were willing to get a little bit wet, you could go on the kayak to pass under the mountain and discover an enclosed lake.
Another way to get there was to board the bamboo boat that was paddled by a person with bamboo sticks. It does not stop you from getting wet though, as we saw 2 people falling from one of those boats 🤣.
Titop Island was our last stop. It is known for its beach but also for the 420 steps (I counted) to go up to the gazebo on top of the island, where you will find one of the most beautiful views of the archipelago and Ha Long Bay.
The climb reminded me of the one we did on Padar Island in Indonesia.
We went back to town after only a 4h boat ride instead of the promised 6h... 😒 But it was still a nice boat tour.
Arriving close to our port, we passed in front of a big ferris wheel and a temple overlooking Ha Long city. That would be our stop for the following day.
As part of the Sun World amusement park, the SunWheel and the temple of Chùa Bảo Hải Linh Thông, are on top of two hills on the east side of Ha Long.
Our taxi could not go beyond the car entrance and we had to go up the hill on foot. On the way we passed the SunWheel and the Japanese fortress-like building that serves as the cable car stop for Sun World.
There were also a couple of red bridges, one of them being upside down, that were part of Sun World as well.
The temple complex Chùa Bảo Hải Linh Thông, also part of Sun World but free to visit, is composed of a 5-tower grey stupa and 4 temples where you can pray to different Buddhas.
There was a green bridge connecting Sun World and the temple with a stunning view of the surrounding area and the ferris wheel, even though you don't see so much of the bay.
We could not go on the other side of the bridge because we did not have a ticket to Sun World, so we had to go back the same way we came in.
It was definitely a gorgeous end to our time in Vietnam that made the whole trip worthwhile.
Even though we had a really hard time finding open restaurants during the Têt, the Vietnamese New Year, as the Vietnamese cease all activities for at least the first 3 days of the new year. We were roaming the city for food and ended up eating a lot of terrible pizzas and pastas, as well as Circle K Banh Bao (which were actually pretty good 😊)
It was a shame to not enjoy more Vietnamese specialities before leaving the country. But, in my opinion, the best Vietnamese food can be found in Paris or Sydney anyway (don't kill me !!! 😜).
Tomorrow we have a ride from the hotel to Hanoi's airport for 2.5M VND. Pricey but at least we are not going to be stressed when leaving for our next destination, Laos!
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