10/26 Halong Bay: Junks, Grottos & Trolling for Passengers

There was no lounging around in bed while gazing out the cabin window and watching other cruise boats sail by for us today as we had a 7am date for breakfast!  

It was a quiet time in the dining room as many people looked like they had imbibed a few too many post dinner drinks last night. We decided to enjoy ours on the deck instead and take in the great views for as long as we could. We knew we had to be on the boat's tender by 7:45 for a short boat ride to then see Song Sot cave.

Pretty sure the Paloma's sails were only unfurled so we could take photos but, hey, it worked for me!

Photos from our tender ride en route to the cave:

Harry, our tour guide.

You can see the cave's opening through the trees here.

Interesting seeing the 7 Wonders of Nature sign as I don’t know whether those listed are generally accepted to be the 7 wonders or whether local tourism officials had come up with the list? Of course Halong Bay topped the list; following it was the Amazon River, Iguazu Falls in Argentina and Brazil, Jeju Island in Korea, Komodo Island in Indonesia (we know that place!), an underground river in the Philippines and Table Mountain in South Africa.

Seeing so many tour groups also there at 8 made us realize that Song Sot Cave, aka Surprise Cave, must be the cruise boats' favorite (or nearest?) place possibly to take guests. 

There was a short, steep climb on paved steps from the tiny wharf to the cave itself leading to 3 chambers with the last one being the largest.

Harry told us that the cave was discovered in 1901 by local people looking for natural medicinal plants. The large grotto was used by the Viet Cong as a hideout during the Vietnam War.

How absolutely spectacular was all we kept thinking.

Photos from Song Sot Cave:

Harry told us that people visiting the cave years ago sadly broke a lot of stalagmites to take home as souvenirs. He then led us on an interpretive stalagmite hunt pointing out elephant, camel and dragon shaped rock formations.

In the 2nd temple we saw holes in the ceiling formed 5 million years ago when Halong Bay was under water. The holes were formed from sea waves, Harry said.

Somehow this pole shows a monkey climbing it, at least according to Harry!

He pointed out the graffiti left before the area was protected.

Harry said water falls from this rock during July and August.

An Asian dragon!

In 1999 the Chinese cooperated to install the lights and the safe pathway through the cave.

Turtles represent long life and happiness in Vietnam and statues of them are normally present in Vietnamese temples. Visitors left donations of money on this turtle statue.

Saw the 1st sign of vegetation here as we neared the top of the cave and you could see the sun's rays pierce the darkened interior.

Hard to get any more picturesque than from the viewing platform overlooking the sprawling bay with its myriad junks far below! How great seeing the sun shine again too.

Photos walking back to our tender:

We got back to the Paloma by 9:30 with time to pack up our last few things in our cabin as check out was 9:45. 

Lunch was served at 10! Don't think we've ever eaten lunch THAT early before but we knew that the crew needed to get the cabins cleaned before the next passengers arrived on board about 12:30 ready to start their adventure. 

We headed back in the tender to Halong City where we had begun our great but all too brief cruise just 24 hours earlier. We had said goodbye after breakfast to Dhivyan and Katie, the couple we'd met yesterday from London, as they were staying aboard for a second night. I hope we'll see them stateside at some point as they'd always be welcome guests.

We were the only ones not returning to Hanoi on the shuttle bus because we had made plans to take a bus from Halong City to the city of Ninh Binh, our next way station on the trip. After waiting for close to an hour at Paloma's offices in Halong City for a shuttle bus, we were incredibly lucky being dropped off at the city's bus station with just 2 minutes to spare before the bus left for the 4 hour journey to Ninh Binh, especially since there are only 2 buses a day connecting the 2 cities!

The ride wouldn't have been that long if the young man, above, didn't always stand in the well of the bus and open the door every few minutes shouting at passersby if they wanted to go to Ninh Binh or beyond! The system worked well for the bus company and passengers even though there were no stops at bus stations. 

The only issue arose when all the seats were full and he still trolled for, and accepted, passengers; they sat on 2" cushions on the floor in the aisle. That made for an uncomfortable ride for Steven for a while since he had the aisle seat, the poor baby!

There were 2 pit stops so it was nice to get out and stretch our legs but better still getting to Ninh Binh as it had been a long day. Our bus below.

Snacks for sale at a pit stop.

The bus dropped us off in the middle of Ninh Binh, not at the bus station of course! The young woman below was wonderful calling our hotel who sent out a 'driver' for us as was the plan. Sure didn't think though the conveyance would be a motorcycle! Oh well, I was game even if my helmet kept falling off on the 10 minute ride to the hotel. 

Steven's bag was just a 'tad' bigger than mine so it must have been a tough ride for both of them to the hotel.

Posted on 10/30 from Hanoi, Vietnam.