The beauty and hassle of Ha Long bay

Ha Long bay is rightfully one of the natural wonders of the world. Words cannot describe the beauty and magnificence, so I won’t really try. All I can say is that the place is worth a visit, but that’s the tricky part. Like most things, we tried to do Ha Long bay our own way. In Vietnam it is really difficult to do anything your own way, and if can often end up more expensive and wasting your time. We had read about that beforehand, but our distaste for travel agencies, and pre-booked, pre-planned outings with a group of annoying strangers was still strong. So our expedition to the bay turned out to be quite a mess.

After researching transportation and the various towns that provide access to the bay we decided to go from Hanoi to Halong City, then catch a ferry to Cat Ba island and from there a speed boat to Haiphong from where we would continue south. We really did not want to return to Hanoi. As it turns out most people tend to do that route in reverse. We couldn’t find much solid information on a bus to get us to Halong City so we decided to do a one-day tour through Sinh Tourist. The problem there was that we wanted to get them to drop us off on Cat Ba island on the same day which was impossible. They either do a one day tour or a three-day sleep-out in the bay. So we opted for the one day tour, which would leave us in HalongCity where we assumed getting a ferry to Cat Ba would be simple.

The most expensive rock in Vietnam

The tour was amazing given the scenery, but considering the size and scope of the bay it was really quite average. Like everybody else we got on a tour boat and headed out to the nearest island in the bay, which we circled coming across the ‘most expensive rock in the country’ as it is printed on the largest Dong bill and the symbol of Halong Bay; two rocks that look like chickens kissing. You have to use your imagination. There is a stop off at a floating village which is quite cool. We had a tasty lunch there and had the option of going in a small boat to visit a cave nearby, but the extra cost was too much. Instead we had to wait an extra hour while others did their thing.

This seems to be the main problem with tours in Ha Long bay, it is incredibly difficult to find anything that will cater to specific needs. Every one just follows the same route in a catch-all manner. The more people they can push through the faster, the better. As such the experience isn’t as magical as we’d hoped for, instead it all felt rather mechanical and impersonal which is not what one wants when exploring one of the most amazing natural wonders on the planet.

Floating Village

After lunch we set off to explore on of the bigger caves in the bay. It was really impressive, but they really like to go crazy with rainbow coloured lighting. While the effect is cool in some parts, it is overused and makes everything feel like a theme park. After finishing the cave-walk we jumped on the boat and, much to our disappointment, steamed back to Halong City. As it turns out most of the tour time is taken up with 3 hour drive to and from the bay. So we grabbed our bags and allowed Darian to take charge to find us somewhere to stay.

We naturally went to the tourist information centre at the main pier. Inside there was a very friendly man who couldn’t quite explain to us how getting to Cat Ba worked. We told him we wanted to get to Cat Ba Town in one day and as fast as possible. He smiled and explained that he had just the service for a nominal fee, including a nights accommodation in Halong City. Reluctantly we agreed, but it seemed the best course of action. We were dropped off at a hotel with a piece of paper detailing that we had paid. Upon arrival they requested our passports which we handed over believing they were just taking our details. Turns out they have to keep your passports until you check out. It’s the governments way of tracking travellers through the country. I assume the hotel staff scan them as part of the end of day process so that your stay is logged in some kind of massive database. Who knows really though. Our reception man was quite a grumpy bastard to be honest. When we asked him for our passports back (before we knew what the deal was) he got very angry and started yelling at us, “you pay room!” To which we gave him our ‘receipt’. begrudgingly he told us to come back at nine that night and the passports would be ready to collect. Feeling slightly on edge about the whole situation we set out to explore the city.

Halong City really hasn’t got much to say for itself. Everything on the beach front is super expensive compared to places across the road. There are loads of tacky hotels. During the peak season I can imagine it as sleazebag central. The market sells trinkety crap, but at least they had a supermarket type thing where we first discovered Wall Street whisky. If you are to visit Vietnam you must drink it, if only for the ridiculous name.

Cave in all it's technicolor glory

The next day we were picked up by our nice tourist information man, taken to the pier and led out to a boat (which was late) and ended up doing the exact same thing as the day before except instead of returning to the city we went further into the bay. Needless to say we were pretty angry, Kim especially. At the cave we opted out, having seen it before and not wanting to pay to go in again. We had to wait two hours there because apparently someone got lost in the cave. That was the excuse they gave us. We really had to wait for some other tourists to catch up and jump on our boat because they were heading to Cat Ba as well but had started on another boat. Why Sinh Tourist didn’t set up that kind of transfer for us on our single day tour I have no idea.

The ride to Cat Ba was really amazing, but it soon dawned on us that we wouldn’t be getting to Cat Ba Town by boat. Kim became increasingly worried about being dropped off on the tip of the island without anywhere to go. She approached one of the tour guides who had joined the boat at the cave island, who decided to mess with her saying we’d have to sleep under a tree. So her journey was ruined by worrying, while me and Darian played a little guitar as we enjoyed cruising through the bay. The experience was what I expected from the very beginning. We were surrounded by islands jutting out abruptly from the sea, and seemingly continuing on forever. It felt like a maze. In the end I was really glad we decided to take the cruise for a second time even though we did have to wait for 2 hours without explanation.

When we arrived on the island there was a bus waiting, which Darian steamed towards with us in tow. He was adamant that the bus would take us to town no matter what, so we plonked ourselves in the back seat ready to make a stand. No one asked any questions and before long we were on our way feeling slightly foolish. We arrived in Cat Ba Town by nightfall. Finding accommodation was really easy. As soon as we started down the main road we were surrounded by hoteliers trying to sell us rooms. We ended up at a place with a room for $8 for the three of us. There was no AC, but it was cheap enough that we didn’t care. The staff weresuper friendly, although they did try to sell us dinner and a tour after we had checked-in, but they didn’t get aggressive when we refused. Cat Ba Town is basically one road along the water front. During the low season it is impossible not to find a good bed, and some good food. We ended up at a bar owned by a New Zealander called ‘The Flightless Bird’ knocking back $1 double whiskies. In Vietnam a double is basically a quad anywhere else.

View from our hotel in Cat Ba Town at nightfall

Note: I’ll have to finish the Cat Ba – Haiphong leg in the next post due to length. Tour guides are a bunch of jokers, don’t take them seriously especially if they’re from another company. It doesn’t pay to get angry in Vietnam unless it is the final straw. If you get angry, they’ll get angrier and ignore you or worse. Apparently the two night, three-day cruises are a bit hit or miss so be wary. Also, for a few travellers it is better to skip Ha Long Bay entirely and go to Tam Coc near Ninh Binh, more on that to come.