Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, February 19th + 20th 2024

From Hanoi, our adventure continued with a swift journey to the iconic Ha Long Bay for a one night cruise.

Here, hundreds of emerald-clad limestone karsts emerge from the sea, showcasing an ever-changing palette that transitions from deep blue to jade green throughout the year.

This extraordinary landscape spanning 1500 km² is on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites, with its geological foundations dating back over 300 million years. Ha Long Bay also served as a mesmerizing backdrop in the James Bond movie «Tomorrow Never Dies,».

When we checked into our cruise ship, we got a pleasant surprise; our group would share the entire ship with only four other passenger. A spacious luxury on a 50 passenger ship.

The cruise started with a lunch, while the ship gracefully sailed into the waters holding thousands of uninhabited islets.

Our first stop was at one of the two surviving floating fishing villages in Ha Long Bay. Gliding through the emerald waters, we got a glimpse into the unique way of life in these rustic communities, where houses float on pontoons, connected by narrow pathways.

The visit to this village ended in a pearl farm, where got an up close insight into how pearl seeds are implanted into pearl oysters, hoping for them to produce a high quality pearl.

As the day unfolded, we gathered on the sun deck, surrounded by the islets slowly flowing past us.

As the sun started to set, the landscape turned into a myriad of soft hues, where the light from the distant city, the sunset, and the floodlight from our ship into the water blended into incredible lighted scenes.

Our dinner was accompanied by a good bottle of wine, before turning in quite early after having made feeble attempts at catching small squids by the side of the boat.

Encouraged by the amazing light in the evening, I got out an hour before the sunrise, knowing the fact that the twilight passes in a matter of minutes at these latitudes.

We made an early morning stop at one of the caves in the bay, which was used as hidden bases for the Vietnamese resistance against the French occupation. It was a quite small cave but very interesting.

After a brunch we slowly steamed back towards Ha Long, ending our small cruise, leaving a lasting impression of a unique landscape, still inhabited by fishermen that live in harmony with these waters.

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This blog post is part of the Indochina trip 2024 – see other blogs from the same trip