Crouching Kayaker, Descending Dragon

After arriving from Sapa at 4:30 AM, I heard a sharp rap at my window and looked out to see my overenthusiastic guide, smiling and waving a printed sign with my name on it.  It was equal parts endearing and terrifying, but since he saved me from the mobs of drivers and got me safely back to my hostel I was forever grateful.  While there is much to complain about after cookie cutter tours, the arranged transportation is certainly a nice perk.

My rest at the hostel was both welcome (Breakfast! Shower! Early check-in!) and productive, and soon enough it was 8 am and time for another adventure.  I was picked up on another Maydeville Hostel-arranged tour, this one a day trip to the beautiful Ha Long Bay.  I walked onto a bus packed with an international crowd, choosing a seat by the window from which I could enjoy the views.  One of my favorite aspects of long drives is watching the countryside pass by outside, as well as the chance to nap leaning on the windows.  This trip, which turned out to be about four hours (not the advertised 2-3) included both naps and a good bit of countryside-watching.  Unfortunately, I was woken up at the halfway point for a tourist-trap stop.  As in China, there were large jade statues everywhere, 700 kg monsters that only the rich and impractical can purchase on a whim at a rest stop.  Inside, on the way to the small and overpriced food court, was an open area where we could watch women stitch pictures of tigers, puppies, or everyday scenes from Vietnamese life.  The next room housed silk scarves and ties, the neat rip-off bags, and the last a series of snacks.  We were given a full half hour, which nobody wanted to spend at this rest stop.

But at long last we arrived at Ha Long City, a cluster of industrial buildings bordering a tourist office by the docks.  Hundreds of boats were visible; apparently there are 300 day boats and an additional 200 overnight boats (for passengers taking multi-day trips).  Since I was taking a day trip, our boat consisted of a downstairs restaurant and an upstairs empty deck.  We started downstairs, enduring a tutorial on how to use a life vest and enjoying a lunch of mostly seafood (grilled whole fish, steamed prawns, and sliced squid).  As we ate, the boat chugged its way from the port to the base of the beautiful craggy rocks that make Ha Long Bay a beautiful tourist attraction and a UNESCO site (one of the "Seven New Wonders of the World," despite being 500 million years old).

Ha Long Bay is a series of giant limestone rocks that have been worn away over time by the salt water surrounding them.  

The name "Ha Long" is a Sino-Vietnamese mash-up meaning "descending dragon".  It refers to the myth that dragons descended on the bay to protect the Vietnamese from invaders (probably Chinese).  The pearls and emeralds that spilled from their mouths became the islands.  The dragons then decided to settle in the bay, and descended into the water.  And then there is the scientific explanation: 500 million years ago, the entire area was submerged, but as the after receded and the rocks emerged, their shape was continuously changed by the water around them.  The type of weathering that the limestone endured has turned it into a "karst landscape", the best example of this in the world.  Today, the rocks stand about 50-100 meters high and have a general 6:1 ratio of height to width.  The sides are almost completely vertical, yet resilient vegetation somehow survives on the stone surface.

Driving through the rocks, the scene was just as breathtaking as I had hoped.  Ha Long Bay did not disappoint, and was not diminished in my imagination by prior exposure to pictures and stories of other travelers.  As David mentioned to me earlier on this trip, people now express excitement and emotion through the number of photos they feel obligated to snap, and I was a perfect example of this principle throughout the day.

Once we were nestled among the rocks, we docked at a floating tourist office and clambered into kayaks.  I love kayaking normally, but in such an incredible setting it was a real treat.  My partner and I paddled around the outside of the various rocks, as well as through the cave-like openings into the hollow centers of two of them.  Sadly, the picturesque scene was a bit ruined up-close by dirty, murky water and floating trash, but the rocks were as majestic as ever.

See how tiny thekayakers are in comparison?

Our next stop on the boat was a cave within one of the rocks through which we could hike.  

Like the caves in central Vietnam, it was the result of water trickling in through limestone rock, creating similar dripping stalagmites and irregular indentations in the walls.  This cave, being far more unique in this region, had been given the full star treatment and the significance of each feature had been blown out of proportion.  Meaning is in the eye of the beholder.  The entire cave was lift up with colorful party lighting, casting purple, pink, orange, and green shadows on the rock formations and making the whole event feel like Adventure Prom.  

Then, our guide began to point out various "shapes" with a laser pointer.  Clearly the four important animals - dragon, phoenix, turtle, and elephant - were present.  There was also a woman reclining in a sexy pose, a couple showering together, monkey heads, Ho Chi Minh's face (convenient, eh?), and a pool in the shape of modern-day Vietnam.  There were four openings in the cave, termed the four gates of heaven though one leading down was said to be more of a gate to hell (nobody had explored it). Romeo and Juliet showed up as shadows cast by one of the carefully-positioned lights.  But the crowning jewel of finding shapes was the Original Boob.  Apparently a dragon and a fairy (I think he meant more of an angel, because he said she resided in heaven) had 100 babies but couldn't live together so they each took 50.  One of the one's following the father dragon split off and was the first king of Vietnam.  But all of the children that went with the father had the same problem: how could they survive without a mother's milk?  Enter the Original Boob, a giant semicircle with a little pokey point on top, which has spawned a large mythical history since the cave was discovered less than 20 years ago.  On the way out we passed a random, cylindrical stalagmite and our guide made more lewd jokes about it.  We had had enough.  We walked out and got back on the boat.

Back on the boat, we faced the ubiquitous Vietnamese scene: people trying to sell us crafts as soon as we sat down.  This time, it was pearl jewelry.  While it's quite possible there are plentiful pearls here (there is a large variety of sea life in the bay), none of us were quite comfortable with $1 pearls or the feeling that they were trying to suck every penny possible out of us before we left Ha Long Bay.

And then, a mere four hours after we had embarked, we were back and being loaded onto another bus for the long journey home.  It was a lot of travel for just a little time at Ha Long Bay (twice as much travel time as bay time) but I'm glad that I got to see the rocks rising up out of the water.  Even Ho Chi Minh said of Ha Long Bay, "It is the wonder one cannot impart to others."  My favorite quote, though, is from Xuan Dieu:

"Here is the unfinished works of the Beings.  Here is the stones which the Giants played and threw away."

What a way to end a trip.  Only 53 more hours and I'll be home.

Tips for the future Ha Long Bay traveler:

Make sure your boat has AC.  It gets swelteringly hot out on the water midday and you will be glad to have it.

You cannot swim at Ha Long Bay.  Due to poor water quality and several accidents in recent years (drownings, ships sinking), swimming was recently prohibited.  Once you see the water, you won't want to.

Ha Long Bay must be incredible at sunrise and sunset, as well as by moonlight.  Sadly, I did not get to witness any of these.  Know that if you are there overnight, your boat will dock in a special place for the night.  I don't think that there is any kayaking at night, but if you could do that it would be incredible.

Spotted: Driver discounts.  As we noted in Cambodia, bus drivers and tour guides (probably through their companies) have agreements with rest stations like the one we stopped at.  In return for bringing hungry tourists to their site, the driver and tour guides receive free, or at least discounted, food.  We suspected this, and it was confirmed when we saw our staff in a secret back room of the complex kicking back and slurping noodles.