Luxury Travel Testimonial - Part 6:
Halong Bay.
 Halong Bay is only a short three hour drive from Hanoi. You have to see this, another World Landscape Heritage Sight. With the same Hanoi guide and driver, we arrived for the departure of the junk reserved by Luxury Travel. We opted for a two night, three day cruise in the bay. We strongly suggest this, or at least one night, two days, but not one day only. The reason for this suggestion is that if you only have one day and the weather and visibility happens to be poor that day, you miss quite a lot and you will be disappointed. With two or three days, you are bound to have at least one good day if not all three. Our same guide from Hanoi accompanies us on the boat for the three days. He knows every nook and cranny of this bay, perhaps one of the most beautiful bays in the world. You can tell that our guide is really in his element here. We went over the bay with the help of a map in some detail as we like to know where we are and what we are seeing.
There is a very small and pleasant group on the ship, with an excellent view, plenty of place from which to marvel at the sights (Picture 27). And the food, what a surprise! We did not expect such excellent sea food meals in a most pleasant dining room on a relatively small junk! (Picture 28). And the cabin was another pleasant surprise, even though of course simple, it went beyond our expectations as far as space and comfort and cleanliness.
At one point we anchored offshore to climb on top of one of the hills in order to get a magnificent view of the Halong Bay and our junk amongst the others. We also waited patiently with our guide for the sunset to capture that magic moment. (Picture 29)
The junk takes us to a smaller boat in order to get closer to the shore. We had another surprise, the meals were superb and so was the whole atmosphere on this small boat (08). We ventured to do some kayaking. We had asked Luxury to furnish three kayaks as part of our over-all package, one for each of us and our guide. The junk brought them along as planned. What a beautiful and soft adventure, easy to do, even for anyone who has not yet done any kayaking. The staff is most attentive in getting you aboard and all the safety measures are in place. (Picture 30). Kayaking allows you to approach the shore even closer and get to see the floating villages, going right up to their front “door” .
For those who prefer not to take a kayak, the junk also offers a ride in a smaller boat to visit the same areas.
After the three day cruise, on disembarking on shore at Halong, the same driver and his van from Hanoi was right there on time to pick us up. We had a tour of the city of Halong, and then headed towards Hanoi via Haiphong. The latter is one of the biggest cities and one of the two major ports in the country. It is worthwhile to take the extra hour or so and make a short visit there. It is also important historically. What was of great interest, for us in any case, is the drive from Haiphong to Hanoi. Not for the scenery, but just to see the seemingly endless line of large factories (joint ventures, foreign and Vietnamese) along the highway between Haiphong and Hanoi. It confirms what is said about Vietnam, namely that it is the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia, and now a major player in Asia in general. Haiphong with its port, Hanoi and Halong together constitute what the Vietnamese call the golden triangle, a major base for present and future economic development in the country. It is worth the short detour.
Arnold August
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