Simmi, Mike & Naiya in SE Asia: Ha Long Bay to Quan Lan Island

Halong Bay is a UNESCO world heritage site in Quang Ninh Province. Ha Long means descending dragon. The legend is that the Vietnamese prayed to the gods against the Chinese invasion (against their valuable resources) resulting in a dragon descending from the sky and spitting out pearls that are the rock formations surrounding Ha Long Bay today. The core of the bay contains 775 islets, most made from limestone.

Ha Long is beautiful and attracts many tourists like us who float around on “junk” boats or bigger cruise boats. Unfortunately as a result you can see garbage floating in the water. Everywhere we’ve been in Vietnam, we’re faced with the dichotomy of it’s beauty and the garbage surrounding it. There is so much plastic everywhere.

On the first night we slept on a “junk” boat. With us were our Belgium friends from Sapa and 4 others + Kami our wonderful funny guide. The boat had an open upper deck where you could lounge and see the beautiful vistas. The cabins were on the main level. Air conditioning was reserved for late at night between around 9 pm - 4 am. This resulted in it being a bit of a sweat box. I decided to do some much needed laundry when I first got there and must have sweat out several litres when I was done. This was the first place where they didn’t supply us with a thick blanket (only thin sheet), in the middle of the night the cabin turned into a freezer and as I rummaged for more layers I wished for the thick blankets.

Kami!

Our junk boat for Halong Bay cruise

Halong Bay

Kayaking in Halong Bay. Too many boats

While on this trip we did some kayaking and ate amazing food. Our leader Kami was the king of cheesy compliments. He had one liners for everyone.
Leaving Ha Long Bay we drove north to Cai Rong Island where boarded another boat to cruise Bai Tu Long Bay. This bay was amazing. No other tourist boats, just the occasional fishing boat. Here we were able to swim a do a bit more kayaking in a totally secluded setting. N and the boys from Belgium built a raft from some washed up fishing rope, life jacket and bamboo. Our boat ride took us to Quan Lan Island where we spent 2 nights. The rest of the group left us after night one night but we decided to stay to do some independent exploration of this island. Quan Lan is difficult to get to, so there were virtually no other westerners there. It’s more popular with Vietnamese tourists. Needless to say we received a lot of attention from both locals and Vietnamese tourists who wanted take photos with us.

Quan Lan

Playing cards with our Belgium friends

Too much garbage everywhere - Quan Lan Island

Biking around Quan Lan

Makeshift raft Bai Tu Long Bay

Crusing around Quan Lan on motorcycle

Quan Lan

Too tired

Quan Lan is limited to mostly motorbikes and electric vehicles. We were told there were no cars on the island but we did spot one or two. No gas stations, gas for motorcycles is sold out of used plastic water bottles that you can buy anywhere. Population is about 7000. We bicycled and also rented a motorbike. N’s second motorcycle experience! This enabled us to see how the locals live and check out the awesome white sandy beaches. During our beach exploration we found one that had no one but us. Think long beach except with bath water to swim in and a bit of garbage washed up on the shore. On the other end of spectrum and island for that matter we found another beach highly popular with Vietnamese tourists. This beach was crazy with people, music, karaoke. We met some and had photos taken.

Quan Lan - Naiya was invited to our hosts sons bday party

Quan Lan - everyone wants a pic with the blond people

Quan Lan - making ice cream from scratch

Quan Lan Beach

Heading back to Hanoi

On the second night we connected with another group (same tour company) to hitch a ride back to Hanoi. Included an Australian family that we hung out with. They had a 10 year old Zoe who loved to do card tricks and befriended N. Our way back involved more boats and mini bus. It took us all day to get back to Hanoi. We are staying in an awesome backpackers hotel. We have a deluxe family room overlooking the Old Quarter. Last night we swam in their pool and drank free beer during happy hour. We have one more day in Hanoi, then fly to Luang Prabang where we get ready for our elephant excursion. Can’t wait. Although it’s supposed to be even hotter there. 36 degrees!