Cruising Halong Bay

Monday, June 01, 2015
Halong Bay, Vietnam
Beautiful sunny day once again after an incredible lightning storm at 4am (which apparently most people slept thru). After breakfast, Tom the Tour Guide tells us about tourism in Halong Bay. Apparently the bay has 2 major areas (Halong & Bai Tu Long). They receive 1.5 million visitors every month on more than 700 Chinese Junks! Indochina Tours (owner of Dragon Pearl and 10 other boats) are the only ones with a license to sail the Bai Tu Long Bay area. That is the reason why during our 3 days, with the exception of the beach stop today, we have been completely alone! It's as if we are the only tourists exploring these islands. It's truly a peaceful, extraordinary experience.
The staff on the junks work 26 days each month with just a few days off and for logistical reasons (tight living quarters) almost all are men . They earn on average about 10 dollars a day which apparently is enough to live on and even save a few dollars.
After breakfast we cruise along to Van Gio Island to pick up the kayaks. The 1 1/2 hour paddle exploring the island what a breathtaking experience difficult to put into words. Even the pictures fail to capture the magnificence and stunning beauty of the landscape. Paddling into the lagoon in the middle of the island was like travelling back in time. A quick swim by the junk in the very strong current to cool off (sort of) then we continue cruising during our 10 course lunch.
Around 4pm, we arrived at Indochina's private beach island (with the cave). Although there are almost 2,000 islands in Halong Bay, only 30% are named, and only 3% have large caves (total of 7 caves in all). 3 caves are located in our area of the bay, one of which Indochina has secured the rights for.
A quick shower and a pre-dinner cocktail then it's onto the tender again for the transfer over to the cave. Breathtaking! We were treated to a candlelight 11 course BBQ super.
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