Emmy in the Rice Paddy: Halong Bay

I knew that I couldn't visit Vietnam for 12 days and not make it to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is east of Hanoi, still in the north. It is a World Cultural Heritage site, composed of over 3000 small islands jutting up from the sea. Upon the recommendation of my hostel (a great hostel by the way, "Little Hanoi Hostel") I booked a 2 day, 1 night cruise in Halong Bay. Halong Bay is almost a 4 hour drive from Hanoi. One of the guys in my dorm, a nice guy from Italy named Luca was traveling alone too and already booked that tour, so I just followed him :) The van picked us up at 8am sharp and we were off! Along the drive, we stopped at a gift shop that had beautiful things, but it looked like a sweatshop when you first showed up! There were tons of girl (only a few boys) working on absolutely gorgeous silk embroidery. They were so talented, but I felt uncomfortable having busloads of tourists staring at them like we were at a zoo. However, Luca pointed out to me that some of them were using sign language. That made things a lot better, as it turns out that the gifts from the shop were created by disabled people (this gave them a job). I bought 2 small embroideries that I absolutely love.

Then we arrived in Halong City, and boarded our boat to Halong Bay. It was me, Luca, an English girl named Minty, an American named Justin, two Danish girls named Caecilie and Sabrina, and a Danish family of 5 on our boat. It was small, but a very good time. We had delicious seafood meals while cruising Halong Bay, and I will always remember how gorgeous it was! This is the life :) The bay reminded me a little bit of Koh Phi Phi in Thailand. What an absolute treasure.

After lunch, we explored a massive cave. I had never been in a caved this large, and I was absolutely shocked! We learned that caves like this were used during the Vietnam War as hospitals (clever!) After exploring the cave (and probably my favorite part of the whole Halong Bay trip) was kayaking! Minty and I paired off, zipped up our lifejackets, and were off! The kayaking was beautiful even though the water was polluted and dirty at some parts. We found a narrow cave that we could kayak through, and it led to this absoltuely gorgeous, pristine lagoon surrounded by lush green limestone cliffs. Minty and I even saw an eagle! Kayaking was FAB-U-LOUS. We then headed back for another delicious (fancy!) meal. I especially enjoyed the fruit and vegetable carvings: my favorite was a swan carved from a tomato! We then hiked to the top of an island lookout, and some people went swimming (I, on the other hand, forgot to pack a bathing suit to Vietnam...not smart for someone traveling the coast of the beautiful beaches haha). Then we just lounged on the deck until late at night. That night, I slept excellently in my cabin :)

The following morning (Day 2) was just a lazy day lounging on the boat in the bay. Then we headed back to Hanoi, and I packed up my things for an overnight bus that would start bringing me south towards Hoi An. When the van picked me up, I realized maybe 3 minutes later that I'd forgotten my sneakers in a storage room. The streets of Hanoi were crazy and the van driver needed to pick up other people. One of the receptionists drove me on her personal motorbike to get my shoes. It was one of the kindest acts. (And they are the only sneakers I have here for my 3 months of travel so they are actually pretty important!) I got the shoes, and made it to the bus on time. When I tried to give her money for a tip she was already gone. I will never forget how kind she was without expecting anything in return, and hopefully I can repay the favor someday to someone else.

Enjoy the beautiful pictures of Halong Bay. The sunset was one of the most gorgeous sunsets I have ever seen.