12 August 2014

Ha Long, Vietnam

Cruising around Halong Bay has been a long time dream, especially since it features on the list of UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites (as well as a good couple of enormous billboards around Vietnam, claiming it to be in the new top 7 natural wonders of the world).

THE EMERALD BAY

The 1,600+ islands and islets (or ‘around 2,000’ as our guide continually emphasised) makes for an idyllic paradise of smooth green water pierced by the white, orange and black patterns of thousands of limestone cliffs. Dark green vegetation covers the rocky outcrops that, on a sunny day, seem to reach up to the blue sky to touch its wispy white clouds. The overcast days are sombre but beautiful, as the clouds cover the sun to bring out the emerald shimmer in the bay and occasional rain bursts provide welcome respite from the tropical heat.

SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME

Surprising Cave — ‘Surprising cave’ certainly was very surprising (and beautiful).

The tour took us to only a small part of Halong Bay, but it was truly spectacular. The black and white patterned faces of the limestone cliffs look down on the junk boats that meander through the islets, like guardians of some long lost world. Lying on sun loungers and looking out at the bay was a favourite afternoon pastime, as well as a good excuse for a pre-dinner nap after busy days of fun activities and interesting sight-seeing.

The list of favourite memories from this trip includes:

Visiting the ’Surprising Cave’, like going down in to the Mines of Moria, a balrog surely hidden in its depths.
A morning spent kayaking through some of the islets, through caves, hidden bays and rocky outcrops; with us South Africans showing the other tourists how kayak polo with a floating Frisbee can keep you fully entertained even in the remotest parts of Ha long Bay.
Sun-tanning on the deck enjoying a cold beer and good company.
Being rocked to sleep by the gentle motion of the junk boat in the designated ‘sleeping bay’ while the aircon drowns out unwanted noise from the outside world.
Being woken up for breakfast by Tony with his signature ‘cocka-doodle-doo’ Vietnamese style and ‘Goo Moooorliiiing’ outside our door.

Halong Bay — A morning spent kayaking through the bay, under caves and into hidden coves.

BOOKING THE TOUR

We booked a tour through our hotel in Hanoi (after speaking to a couple more agents just to be sure) and happily ended up on a private cruise (there were 11 friends in our group) with ‘Elizabeth Cruises’, on one of the smaller junks ‘Hai Au’, with a guide named Tony Nguyen. There were 7 rooms on the junk, all with en suite bathrooms. We stayed 3 days, 2 nights (both nights on the boat) and were more than satisfied with our tour itinerary.

It cost us around $190 and included aircon rooms (evenings only), three meals a day, tour guide, kayaks, entrance to Surprising cave and the Pearl Farm, warm (‘hot’) showers, sundeck with sun loungers and the return van transfer (16-seater, aircon) between Hanoi and Halong Bay.

TIP: Make sure you are clear about the ‘own food/own drinks’ rules for your tour. Our hotel agent told us it was fine to take our own drinks (water, juice, beer, wine) but when we arrived (with the drinks) the tour company protested and there was a lot of unnecessary animosity at the beginning of our tour. This was resolved quickly, but it would have been great if we had not had to deal with this in the first place.

PEARLY WHITE

One more thing to mention was the Halong Bay Pearl Farm. It was so interesting seeing the different kinds of oysters used to create a plethora of pearls in all colours and sizes. There were oysters hanging from strings in the water and the assistants showed us how they ‘implant’ the mother-of-pearl grain in to the oysters to start the process. There were pearls that took between 1 and 8 years to fully mature and when you realise the monetary worth of the end product, it was easy to see how much care needs to be taken at getting this process right. The price of the highest valued pearl for sale at this farm hurt my eyes (brain?); it may as well have been worth a million rand.

TIP: Husbands and boyfriends, visit this place with your better half and a credit card. It will be the most romantic gift you give her from Vietnam. There are some beautiful pieces on sale here.

FOR THE MORE ADVENTUROUS

Talking to a couple of people along the way, we discovered that it is possible to go to Halong Bay on your own if you have a motorbike (and nerves of steel!) or even by catching a van or bus to Hai Phong. From there you can take a ferry across to Cat Ba island (there are resorts and a beautiful beach on the one side of the island). Or you can hire a boat to take you around the bay. We were warned that if we attempted this, however, there are real dangers of encountering illegal boat operators, scams and other less than savoury experiences. We wouldn’t have had enough time to attempt this trip on our own, but it would be an adventure well off the beaten tourist track though!

11 August 2014

Lao Cai Province, Vietnam

With a week to spare, we decided to head up to Sa Pa for a few days and brave the dreaded ‘rainy season’ of the North, in hopes of a glimpse of that beautiful mountain, multi-coloured tiered rice paddies and the various and colourful mountain ethnic groups.

The train from Hanoi (overnight) arrived in Lao Cai at about 5a.m. (extremely close to the Chinese border). We then settled on catching a shared taxi (a 16-seater van) and made the one hour trip through the winding mountain pass up to Sa Pa. The two local children in the back, along with their mother, were throwing up in bags the whole way, which was a great incentive for us to keep our eyes on the beautiful mountains outside (and close our ears!). The driver didn’t seem too phased and we were later told that local people are well-known for their tendency to motion sickness (a myth perhaps, but hey, we experienced it first-hand).

mong — Mong street seller in traditional clothing of the mountain people.

The town of Sa Pa was quite different from what we had expected, but it was a lively little place with so much to offer those who make the effort to wander off the beaten track.

There is a rapidly-developing tourism industry here, a result of local entrepreneurship since the country opened up to outsiders about 15 years ago.

There are trekking stores everywhere (clothing, backpacks, hiking boots etc), places to hire motorbikes, an abundance of western-style restaurants (like Italian, French, American and Vietnamese-Western fusion), bakeries, pharmacies, spas, a wide range of accommodation (high-end to backpackers to homestays), tour companies and tour agents, street vendors and small enterprises, local markets and of course, lots of tourists too.

Even in the rain, life in Sa Pa continues and tourists who go there for only one or two days seemed to brave the rain, trek and explore to make the most of the visit that everyone has to do by train or bus. There are no planes in the mountains.

There are lots of things to see within short distances from the town, especially if you are into motorbikes, hiking and exploring. We thoroughly enjoyed the Muong Hoa Valley (straight down the road from our hotel) and had a couple of afternoons walking around the town itself too – shopping, monuments, museums, the lake, the street food and the many restaurants.

The natural beauty here is amazing and the ethnic groups that live in the surrounding mountains add the colour. The rain is no deterrent to enjoying this peaceful mountain paradise.

One place absolutely worth seeing is the Muong Hoa Valley – we did this on motorbikes as R couldn’t hike – it is SO beautiful! I recommend looking at the Sapa O’Chau tour company for trekking (and their restaurant for delicious trout and chips), as Peter was great. He is knowledgeable about the area, honest and compassionate; and any money spent here all goes to the cause to further education and sustainable income for the local community.

Sapa Essence and Sapa Moment were our two favourite restaurants, just down the road from Four Seasons Hotel and on the way down the Muong Hoa Valley Road.

Hotel recommendation

We stayed at the ’Four Seasons Hotel’ (formerly ‘White Lotus’) and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and comfortable rooms. Only $16 – $20 per night (slightly less if you book online) and the rooms were clean with a view of the mountain. Breakfast was not bad – choice of eggs, bacon, bread, salad, coffee, orange juice and a few other local choices.

TIP

The street sellers (Mong women) are very persistent and always around. Get your game face on and just tell them you’re not interested. Try not to talk to them if you are not planning to buy anything. The city has signs up saying ‘do not buy from street sellers’, as they want to encourage support of small businesses and the mong girls to stay in school.

Favourite souvenir

Besides the lovely North Face backpack I picked up for $12.00, one of the most intriguing things I took away from this trip was being educated about the fact that “Hmong” is not the correct term for the mountain tribes in this area. This is the Vietnamese term imposed on the mountain people and is almost derogatory. The people refer to themselves simply as “mong” (and there are a few different branches within this term like Tao, Dzao etc.) – fascinating! Also, “flower H’mong” is just a made up tourist label as this title is not acknowledged by the local community.

Next up…

From Sa Pa, we went east to Halong Bay and then on to Hue.

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Halong Bay Tour