Vietnam
Hòn Vụng Ba Cửa

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    • Day 5

      La crociera nella baia di Ha Long

      March 19, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      Alzataccia alle 6:50. Colazione sotto l’aria condizionata gelata in hotel e pronti alle 7:55 per il pick up della navetta per uscire dal centro.

      Lasciamo la caotica Hanoi in pullman, assieme ad un gruppo di giapponesi e americani, diretti al porto di Ha Long. Ci aspettano due giorni di crociera attraverso uno dei luoghi più famosi del Vietnam: Ha Long Bay.

      La strada per uscire da Hanoi è piuttosto lunga e noiosa: abbiamo tempo per recuperare qualche minuto di sonno.
      Capiamo già dalla sosta obbligata prima di raggiungere il porto che l'esperienza che stiamo per fare nei prossimi due giorni sarà decisamente turistica. Ci fermiamo infatti, assieme ad altre decine di bus come il nostro, nei pressi di una pearl farm: una struttura sul mare dove appositamente vengono allevate le ostriche per la produzione di perle.

      Ci saranno state non meno di 300 persone ammucchiate in un capannone stretto dove, senza possibilità di scappare, vengono mostrate ai turisti come si inducono le ostriche vive a produrre le perle, come vengono poi scelte in base alla qualità e lavorate per farne collane o orecchini. Ovviamente infine, mega negozio in fondo al giro turistico.

      Risaliamo sul pullman e dopo solo venti minuti riscendiamo al molo, all'altezza della banchina Aspira Cruises. Salpiamo quindi con una prima barca verso Halong Bay e di fronte ai nostri occhi cominciano ad apparire le prime di 2000 isole di cui è composta.
      Uno spettacolo di vere e proprie montagne verdi che affiorano dall'acqua. Ci sembra di essere in un film, accompagnati ad esplorare un mondo alieno o qualche covo di pirati disperso nel mare.
      Addentrati tra le prime isole, vediamo apparire le prime navi da crociera: esattamente come su Below Deck, il reality sull'equipaggio delle barche di lusso, veniamo fatti salire a bordo, ci viene offerto il drink di benvenuto, poi il pranzo.
      Rimpinzati a dovere, veniamo accompagnati alle camere: delle vere stanze d'albergo, ognuna con la terrazza privata sul mare, con le isole aliene che scivolano silenziose all'orizzonte.

      Il programma della crociera è super serrato: dopo pochi minuti ci ritroviamo già in costume a remare su di un kayak in mezzo alle isole.

      Pagaiamo così immersi in un paesaggio che ci lascia ancora a bocca aperta, con il sole che fortunatamente si è fatto strada e colora le foreste le isole di un verde acceso. Passiamo addirittura dentro una grotta marina, per rispuntare in un’insenatura tra le montagne che potrebbe essere il nascondiglio perfetto per un tesoro dei pirati.

      Rientrati alla nave, io e Poli facciamo volare i droni dal ponte superiore, mentre Paolino e Veronica si fanno una nuotata in mare, girando attorno alla nave.
      Ultimo tuffo al volo e l’Aspira Cruise riparte.

      Happy hour ammirando il tramonto sulla baia bevendo birre, americani, whiskey sour e Martini.
      Ceniamo nel ristorante della nave, ma il cibo questa volta non ci piace. Abituati però ad essere cortesi e non volendo sollevare problemi, mentiamo allo chef dicendo che era tutto buonissimo.

      Quando sono le nove e mezza di sera, dopo aver dato uno sguardo sul ponte superiore alle tante navi come la nostra illuminate nel buio, andiamo a nanna ancora increduli del posto da sogno in cui ci troviamo.
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    • Day 6

      Halong Tag 2

      April 16, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      Heute geht's mit dem Boot durch die Halong Bay! Das Wetter ist deutlich besser als gestern, die Sonne kommt sogar etwas raus ☀️
      Die Tour ist noch viel cooler, als erwartet, und ich hab wieder tolle Menschen kennengelernt! Nach dem Mittagessen haben wir eine Speedboattour gemacht und später ging es noch durch eine Tropfsteinhöhle und auf einen Aussichtspunkt hoch😍 die Landschaft hier ist einfach unglaublich! 🤍Read more

    • Day 21

      Ha Long Bay

      August 24, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

      Ha long bay is so busy, boats and tourists everywhere, its feels like a conveyour belt tourist attraction. All the tour shops were selling the same 2 cruises and itinery, we knew we wanted something just a bit different, different to what everyone else was doing and different to our experiences of the same 10 years ago.

      It seems that we had very different experiences, Angela getting a party boat which served oysters, and I as travelling in a group of 3, getting the short straw and having to share a room with Japanese Ken, who I'd never met before and rather enjoyed walking around naked, great! 👍 🙃

      Having finally decided on the right cruise for us, we booked, we would be spending x2 days and a night on Dora, Dora the Vietnamese Explorer. £250 for the trip on a 5* Luxury boat, which had a bathtub in each room with views of the bay, all meals included and with Limosine bus pick-up, and cruised around gracefully to enjoy the picturesque views, sounded perfect, right?

      Angela here now, as my experience was different to Francis', I'll do my recall as I remember. 'Dora' was a lovely boat, with a beautiful room and bathroom as Francis has stated. I was a little annoyed as its sister boat 'Gloria' which we was going to book but decided not to and to upgrade had broken down, so everyone on 'Gloria' got a free upgrade to our boat 'Dora'. On the plus side it did mean there were more people to potentially mingle with.

      On the boat there was a very tight schedule, but what was lovely was the view and calmness of it all, as we only had three other boats on our bay. If we had been on the main part, it would have been packed. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of plastic and rubbish immediately where the boats were, this did ruin the natural beauty of the place, especially for Francis, and he was not impressed.

      The highlights included karaoke, instrumental solo's (which only crew members took part!); Cocktails with new made Australian friends and locals coming to to ship trying to sell you cheap drink, which we took full advantage of (even though not meant to) because the prices on the boat was sky high! Francis also having a bath looking out in the ocean was not necessarily a highlight for me, but he seemed to enjoy it!

      Overall it was good, but I am in agreement that it is touristy and the schedule is too tight, if you're on a boat like that, you want to relax and go at your own pace 🙂
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    • Day 3

      Ha long Bucht

      November 20, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

      Nach 4 Stunden Busfahrt Richtung Süden erreichen wir die Bucht und checken auf einem Schiff ein. Die Ha long Bucht ist ein Pflichtprogramm jeder Vietnam Reise. Fast 2000 Inseln gehören zum Weltkulturerbe. Der Legende nach formte ein Drache diese Landschaft nachdem er hier ins Wasser fiel, Ha long bedeutet herabsteigender Drache. Nach ca. einer Stunde erreicht das Schiff den Ankerplatz, um uns herum jede Menge anderer Schiffe. Wir beziehen die Zimmer mit süßen kleinen Balkons und genießen im Liegestuhl einen gesüßt Kaffee und die Aussicht. Zu Mittag erhalten wir eine reichliche Auswahl von Seafood, Fleisch und Wasserspinat.
      Mit einem Boot erreichen wir die Insel Titov nach dem russischer Astronauten benannt, der sich hier mit Ho Chi Minh traf. Nach 420 Stufen genießt man einen herrlichen Ausblick. Das kalt/ warme Wasser sorgt für eine nette Abkühlung.
      Auf dem Deck unseren Schiffs genießen wir bei der letzten Rotfärbung des Himmels einen Cocktail in der happy hour. Vor den Abendessen werden wir in die Kunst des Rollens von Springrolls eingewiesen, die wir später zum Abendessen essen dürfen. Serviert werden Muscheln mit Kräutern, Tintenfisch, verschiedenes Fleisch mit Gemüse, Wasserspinat, zum Nachttisch Melone.
      An Deck werden 2 Filme zu Vietnam und den Menschen, die auf dem Wasser leben, gezeigt. Teddy, unser Guido, lädt uns zum Angeln von Tintenfischen ein. Wir fangen leider nichts.
      Auf einigen Schiffen um uns herum tobt das Nachtleben mit Karaoke singen.
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    • Day 14

      Halong Bay Day 1

      July 4, 2017 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Monday 3rd July
      Breakfast at the hotel (7th Floor, overlooking Hanoi) before checking out, taking only an overnight bag and getting collected by the minibus from Galaxy Cruises, our selected company for our Halong Bay Cruise. There were 17 on the bus, 6 in our bunch, 1 Aussie couple from Harvey Bay, 1 family of 4 from Adelaide, a family of 3 from Hobart and a couple from NZ / Malaysia. After collecting everyone we headed off on the 4 hour trip to Halong Bay.
      Our tour guide was Hieu (Hugh, as in Hugh Grant, handsome man!!) who we later discover is also our entertainer (magic tricks), educator (information), cooking instructor, Tia Chi master, food waiter and chief organiser. Hieu started off by giving us a history lesson about Vietnam, it wars (and therefore its successes), Ho Chi Minh, Halong Bay and general information. He was very particular about historical dates and could recite any major event in Vietnam history. Plus he gave us the usual speech about the wonderful socialist country but he was also open about the corruption.
      The trip took us through some countryside where traditional farming takes place, mostly rice but also lots of fruit & vegetables. Saw a few tractors but most work is done with a small walk-behind tractor, like a rotary hoe, and hand labour. Didn't see any but apparently the water buffalo are still commonly used. There is major construction happening along the way, roads, houses & factories being built but looks like the standard of constructon is still average and haphazard at best. As we have seen elsewhere, the roads in the towns are lined with small shops of every description and a brisk trade was being had. The roads are still rough with Therrie & Ross being bounced around in the back seat.
      We had a half way stop at a factory / shop where products are made by disabled people and some beautiful artifacts were available for sale.
      Finally we made it to Halong Bay and after a brief wait we got on a small tender and motored our way out to our cruise boat. The whole marina area is quite modern and some huge resorts are being / newly built. There were hundreds of cruise boats scattered along the marina. After instructions we checked in, our cabins were comfortable but as we were to discover, hard beds. Assembled for lunch while the boat made its way out into the bay, along with about 100 others. We also met our other cruise members - a young South African couple and a family of 4 also from South Africa. 23 passengers in total plus about 7 or 8 crew who all were involved in multiple tasks from sailing the boat to serving food & drink, cleaning, etc.
      The day was still very hazy and overcast so it was very warm and humid and viewing of the islands was spectacular but a bit limited. The bay is made up of thousands of limestone islands that rise above the water and provide a very sheltered bay.
      After a while of winding its way around numerous islands we drop anchor and we are ferried over to 1 large island which houses the Sung Sot Cave (Amazing Cave) where we joined thousands of other visitors in walking through a series of immense caves, naturally formed by sea water & erosion. Quite spectacular and Hieu gave us information about the different structures & shapes that are found throughout.
      Back on the boat and travelled a short distance to Ti Top Island, a small but very tall island that has its own natural beach. We were offloaded there and had the choice of walking up to the lookout or swimming.
      Sue, Louisa & Peter took the hard slog option of the 425 steps to the top, reaching the summit just in time for the rain to start, which was quite warm but refreshing. Made the steps down slippery & and a bit more hazardous but we all got back down safely. None of us chose the swimming - the water was luke warm and with the vast number of boats & people, plenty of rubbish in the water.
      Wet, sweaty & thirsty we were ferried back to our boat where it moved back out into the bay and made anchor for the night. I counted 28 boats all within our bay, so there was no clear view but it was very quiet across the water (except for the occassional sounds of Karaoke from another boat). Pretty soon we were assembled for dinner and more instructions and some time for drinks and getting aquainted with our fellow passengers. Most people participated and some good conversations got going and a few laughs were had.
      After dinner Hieu entertained us with some nifty magic tricks and then people dispersed to their cabins or up onto the top deck for a relax & chat.
      Was calm on the water but very humid until a couple of thunderstorms went across during the night which cooled things off and cleared the air.

      Weather was very warm about 32C & very humid.

      Highlights
      * Halong Bay tour (Galaxy Premium Tour) and Hieu our guide;
      * Halong Bay - remarkable scenery;
      * Sung Sot cave;
      * Ti Top Island;
      * Great time on the boat
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Hòn Vụng Ba Cửa, Hon Vung Ba Cua

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