Photo trip report: Vietnam north to south

[buksida]

Halong Bay
Since our time is limited we decided on an overnight all inclusive cruise in Halong Bay to make the most of it ($375 for the family cabin, 4 of us, 2D/1N with Alova Tours booked via the hotel). Glad we did as the journey from Hanoi to Halong City is a butt busting 3.5 hour bus ride on a road that redefines disrepair. A pit stop half way at a typical tourist trap selling tacky souvenirs and overpriced artwork and crafts was little rest bite. Never again will I gripe about drivers in Thailand - Vietnamese drivers are total utter lunatics that believe they can drive how they like with total disregard to all the others doing the same providing their hand is permanently on the horn.

As expected the pier was a fracas of tourists and vendors but what struck me the most was the sheer number of tour boats – at least 200 – moored up in the bay at Halong City. Safety is taken very seriously here and everything is highly regulated with all the boats painted white by government order, crisply uniformed ticket inspectors, enforced life jacket wearing, and passport presentation on embarkation.

Regs and roads aside it was time to get out onto the ocean and into the famed bay with its 1900+ islands and limestone karsts. The only disappointment for me was the lack of a blue sky as photos without one are just not the same, that said the scenery was out of this world and unlike any place I have ever seen, it has a kind of ephemeral timeless beauty. Sea eagles would soar above us as we cruised the islets and our vessel, speed also regulated, meandered its way around them in a kind of slow motion boat race with all the others that left the pier today.

The Halong Bay World Heritage Zone in the Gulf of Tonkin actually covers a huge area but to minimize the impact of tourism the government has restricted the places boats can go and moor up for the night and swimming was only allowed from one small beach … with about 300 other tourists. The downside to this is each place you visit is very crowded.

Kayaking, island trekking, fishing and caving was also included on the tour but my words won’t do it justice so I’ll let the pictures do the talking …

As expected drinks on the boat were over quadruple the shop price (but still cheaper than a small one in a Hua Hin bar) so the enterprising local women would rock up in floating shops (above) to sell cheaper beer (only triple the shop price), they made a few Dong out of me!

To follow: Halong Bay kayaking and viewpoints

[Bernard]

Great stuff Buksida. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post your report and these very good pictures.

[JW]

Love the eagle picture!

[migrant]

Very nice, thanks!!

[lindosfan1]

Brilliant its on my list of things to do

[caller]

Great stuff Buksi, look forward to more!

[PeteC]

How are the internet choices/connections as compared to here Buks? Pete

[T.I.G.R.]

Thanks Buksi, my first look at Hanoi. Great photos, looking forward to seeing more.

[buksida]

Internet connections in the main coastal towns seem to be a lot better than in Thailand (speed wise and reliability) though I'm not on it all day here so cant offer a true comparison.

Here are some shots of kayaking around Halong Bay, the place really is quite amazing.

Cold beer after your paddle sir? Why thank you!

And of course the postcard viewpoint pictures ...

Can you imagine how awesome this place would look with a clear blue sky and emerald green water!

To follow: Caving and local life around Halong Bay

[Dannie Boy]

Whilst it does look really amazing, if there is a downside, it's the fact that there are so many boats and "tourists" (a lot of them look native), so once word gets out it will no doubt become even more busy/commercial?

[buksida]

Yes, it is probably one of the most touristy places I have ever been - it looks busy because there are limits to where the boats can go so this place was one of the most popular, there are hundreds of other islands and small communities totally untouched by tourism.

I got up at 0530 for the sunrise but it was too cloudy so here's one I tweaked earlier ...

This cave, also very touristy, was still one of the most impressive I have been in.

Anyone spot the infamous 'cock rock'?

No end of innuendo in this cave, the formations are revered by the locals as fertility symbols.

To follow: final shots from Halong Bay

[buksida]

There are floating villages and communities in Halong Bay, some of the inhabitants have never been to the mainland and live their entire lives on the water. Obviously tourism offers them a quicker and easier way to make a living than fishing.

To follow: Reunification Express

[GLCQuantum]

Cracking photos Buksi. Love that cave. Looks frikkin huge!

[midlandmike]

Great photos-- The north is interesting, Hanoi has some surprisingly French touches. also interesting to see signs of the bombing that the North took-- I always am awed by the fact that the USA spent millions trying to bomb them into submission--and failed.

[buksida]

Reunification Express
It was time to leave the dizzying moto-mayhem of Hanoi and head south on the train, our destination was Danang in central Vietnam. I had arranged the tickets a couple of weeks earlier via a friend (and board member) currently based there (thanks T!), the options were hard seat, soft seat or sleeper, we opted for the latter and took a 4 berth cabin at a total cost of 2.5 million Dong (or 3,850 baht).

We bid farewell to our gracious hosts at the Jasmine, jumped in a cab to the station and went straight to the SE1 train which was already waiting on platform 1. At 1900 hours on the dot we rolled out of Hanoi station heading south, we’d already had the foresight to stock up on snacks for the kids, baguettes, and tins of cold Bia Ha Noi (and another brand called 333 which tastes very similar to Chang) for the parents since there were no provisions on board. I was expecting a carriage full of locals but what we actually got was a German couple, two cabins of Aussies, some Eastern Europeans and a number of other westerners, all bound for the historical World Heritage town of Hue.

During the US air raids large sections of the northern rail network and its bridges were bombed, following reunification in 1975 the government set about re-establishing the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City rail link, the name remains in use today and the 1726km railway is one of the best ways to travel in Vietnam.

The train was scheduled to arrive at our destination at 1030, we settled in for the night, already sleepy under the rhythmic motion of the train and the consumption of several tinnies. Didn’t sleep too well myself as I’d come down with a bit of a cold following a few nights of sleeping with air-conditioning which I’m not used to.

Woke groggily to the sound of a cockerel wondering who to batter for bringing one on a train; it was actually piped through the PA system to wake up the passengers! A grey morning and light rain was beyond the windows as we clattered past endless rice fields, and the discovery that we still hadn’t arrived in Dong Ha, which put us at about 3 hours behind schedule.

Stuck a vid on the netbook for the kids and crashed out again, food vendors would stop off assuming the mrs was Vietnamese and try to sell her local food, when they discovered she wasn’t she was fleeced for 60,000 Dong for two chicken drumsticks! We finally pulled into Hue at around 1015 upon which almost every white face on the train disembarked turning the platform into a seething mass of moving backpacks.

This was when the weather and journey got better, we were heading for the coastal strip and the spectacular Hai Van Pass with its tunnels and winding mountain passes. The final hour into Danang was simply awesome; the train slowed as it snaked its way around the coast and hugged the hillsides offering spectacular views. I was reprimanded several times by the Vietnam Railway Gestapo for hanging out of the window and taking photos, apparently kids like to throw rocks at the trains so the windows must be kept closed at all times ... I was willing to risk a rock or two to get these shots.

The “express” finally trundled into Danang at 1300 hours, 18 hours after we left Hanoi.

To follow: Danang