7th Uprising - Ha Long Bay
Although the overnight experience of Ha Long Bay was cruelly stolen from the tour, Chairman Boa kept an eagle eye on the government mandated re-opening of the area and somehow wrangled a shortened day trip of the bay at the last minute. Thankful of his contacts, we boarded the bus - mindful of maintaining the previous days Feng Shui - for the almost 3hr journey northeast. On the way we spotted the only rice field spared from the typhoon and in chorus sang for the driver to stop. Here some goofy photos were taken before continuing on.
Travelling further east the true devastation of Super Typhoon Yagi was evident. Buildings, large billboards and in cases, entire factories had been twisted by the winds and haphazardly strewn across the country side. Arriving at port we boarded a spartan, if not authentic vessel and immediately offered a cold wine or beer. That did the trick and with the sun finally out, the disappointment of the night before was immediately lost. We gleefully sailed across the bay on the upper deck to our first destination of Thien Cung Caves.
Known as the most beautiful Ha Long Bay cave, Thien Cung Cave is located on Dau Go Island about 25 meters above sea level with legend telling it was the place of an ancient “Dragon King’s” lavish wedding lasting 7 days and 7 nights. With the passage of time the location of the Dragon King’s Heavenly Palace was forgotten with the jungle growing over the entrance, and it wasn’t until 1993 that fishermen chanced upon the cave after seeking shelter from a bad storm in the bay. Opening to tourism in 1998 the cave is now one of the most popular attractions of the area but this morning we had the whole place to ourselves.
Thien Cung Caves, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Covering an area of 10,000 squared meters, its complex interior of stalactites and stalagmites were formed by water seeping through the limestone over millions of years. Comprising three seperate chambers, the first has a domed ceiling from which a system of stalactites hang like crystal chandeliers, the second contains 4 pillars meticulously carved with patterns of flowers, birds, and ancient people's daily activities while the third appears like a fairyland with dim sunshine bouncing off ponds filled with clear water flowing all year round.
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Leaving Thein Cung we sailed into the bay proper finally experiencing its long awaited beauty first hand. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising a dense cluster of some 1,960 limestone monolithic islands topped with thick jungle vegetation rising spectacularly from the ocean. Meaning "descending dragon", legend has it the Vietnamese people fought hostile invaders entering the country through the sea and called upon the Gods to send the Mother Dragon and her children to help them defeat their enemies. With them gone, giant emeralds appeared scattered along the bay believed to be the teeth of the Dragon and her children who never returned to the heavens and adopted the form of humans to help the Vietnamese people farm, raise cattle and reclaim land.
The limestone mountains have gone through 500 million years of formation through different environments with the evolution of the karsts taking 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate.
A famous islet resembling two cocks facing each other is oddly enough called “Fighting Cock” Islet. When the aforementioned Dragon family came, so too did a couple of roosters to help with the conflict with invaders. But when they arrived they were so taken aback by the beauty of the surrounding bay, they stood still and forgot about their mission, eventually turning into the islets of today. Although it wasn’t the overnight stay we had all envisaged, the opportunity to spent part of the day at Ha Long Bay was simply magical with its natural beauty evident at every degree enough of an incentive to return one day to give the region the attention it deserves.
Leaving for Hanoi mid afternoon, we stopped part way for a toilet break and stroll through the Hong Ngoc Humanitarian Center. Offering training to victims of Agent Orange in various traditional disciplines, it provides them with not only skills but a means of self sufficient living.
The place was outwardly like many of the other tourist traps we were ultimately herded through, but featured a wide variety of typical Vietnamese art styles like silk thread art, painting, stone masonry and handmade jewellery. Make no mistake, the premise of the centre was humanely wonderful but this was a typical tourist trap just with some empathy added as extra marketing.
Back on board fully scammed and laden with various unique artworks, the group excitedly discussed our next adventure set for later that evening as we continually experienced rising typhoonal flood waters.
Although we had officially checked-out of the hotel in the morning, The Chairman arranged access to a few shared rooms for showering and packing purposes. In rotating shifts we did just that between rounding the block for a Pork Banh Mi and lemon ice tea we had all somehow talked ourselves into whiling away the hours in the bus preparing for one of the most anticipated legs of the itinerary.
We hit Hanoi Central Railway Station at about 8:30 for a 9:00pm departure. Tonight we were heading south on The Renunciation Express running from Hanoi to Ho Chi Min via Hue in central Vietnam which would be our point of alightment. It would be an overnight journey of approximately 670 km taking 13 hours and one greatly recommended in all travel writings. When booking the tour a shared cabin was a little confronting, however 2 days in with this bunch of crazies couldn’t have made that prospect now more excitable.
Fatpap, Atharva, Chris and Maddy shared a cabin which in hindsight was perhaps a dangerous idea. After settling in and still at the station, the entire 10 carriage express was frighted by an alarming public address system detailing the long, and often peculiar rules of travel. Having been advised of “mischievous children” throwing rocks through the windows, and clear explanation that bombs, guns and dynamite were forbidden on board, it was the prohibition of carrying corpses that raised the highest eyebrow. But apart from that we were assured the “swooshing” of the steel wheels on the track would be soothing and “a joy to our journey”.
Once away we couldn’t wait for the snack cart to arrive and sent Atharva forward to cut it off at the pass. The pre-purchased vodka was cracked in his absence and a bluetooth speaker connected. Before long the cabin capacity grew from 1 to 4 to 5 before maxing out at 10 persons. With warm beer, straight rum and vodkas of varying mixes, we talked and laughed all night getting to know one another better. It honestly was a fantastic night and a highlight of any travel experience ever had that sadly found 2 things stopping it - the ultimate depletion of alcohol and a cranky little guard politely asking us to go to be bed about 2:00am.
