First a bus trip all over town for an hour from hotel to hotel followed by a 4 1/4 hours by bus to the port including the mandatory 25min stop at a souvenir emporium. Then onto the boat for lunch and on our way to the islands (11km away)
We motor to shore and go into the Surprise cave, one of Halong Bay's top attractions. The surprise is how many people they can get to arrive simultaneously and fill up an enormous cave, as it turns out, hundreds. There is one cave that opens into an even bigger cave and then an even bigger one! Surprise!
A very quick kayak before heading back to the boat to freshen up for dinner.
Breakfast and then we transferred to a smaller boat for our second day. Nicer boat and off the cattle track so we had a great time.
Kayaking on quiet lagoons through limestone caves into a landlocked lagoon. Monkeys in the trees around...Magic.
Great lunch beautifully presented and swimming in warm water. The day was cloudy with a little rain but no problem.
Back to the big boat via a pearl farm. I didn't know the process but it means cutting up tiny pieces of the oyster lip (so-called mother of pearl tissue) from a sacrificial oyster. A tiny piece of the tissue and a seed pearl about 5mm in diameter are placed within the ovary of a living oyster and left for 18 months. After about 30% mortality and about 30% success in making a perfect pearl, the pearls are harvested, drilled and strung.
After breakfast we climbed to the top of the only inhabited island.then there was as extremely slow trip at about 5km/hr burning up time back to Halong port.
Halong Bay is an amazing spot that is being ruined by over-tourism both in terms of the experience and the associated rubbish.
Advice for those wishing to do see this amazing place, rent a small boat directly and go exploring more bays well away from the madding crowd.
Having said that still a place not to miss.
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