Cowbright: Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Yesterday morning we sailed into Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Ha Long Bay is situated in northern Vietnam near the border with China and 106 miles east of Hanoi. It’s name means “Descending Dragon” in Vietnamese. The bay consists of 1,969 separate limestone islands that rise up from the ocean, each topped with a thick jungle-like vegetation. Many of the islands have been named as a result of their unusual shapes – Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting rooster) and Mai Nha Islet (roof). In fact, 989 of the islands have been given names.

Coming in from a distance, they appear as small “bumps” on the sea in the dense fog. Several of the islands are hollow with enormous caves. Our special “event” dinner was held in one of them.

Some of the islands support 4 floating villages of fishermen, whose catch can include 200 different species of fish and 450 kinds of mollusks. Approximately 1600 people live in these villages, but the majority of the 2000 islands that are uninhabited. Some of the islands are also inhabited by wildlife (bantams, antelopes, monkeys and iguanas and others).

The bay was listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1994 and is one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations. It has also been the setting for local naval battles against Vietnam’s coastal neighbors.

Our guide shared local legend that long ago when their forefathers were fighting invaders from the north, the gods from heaven sent a family of dragons to help defend their land. The family of dragons descended on Ha Long Bay and began spitting out jewels and jade, which turned into the various islands and islets to form a fortress from invaders. According to their legend, Mother dragon lies on what is now Ha Long and her children lie in the area called Bai Tu Long. The dragon’s tailed formed the area of Bach Long Vi, known for miles of white sandy beach.

Oceania has 4 special events for their 180 guests and a cave dinner inside one of the giant rocks that make up Ha Long Bay was the last of them. We were greeted by costumed dragons and beautiful girls in traditional attire. Their hospitality was warm as they welcomed us with music, drinks and a meal served buffet style. The cave lighting and decorations were memorable. At breakfast and again at lunch today, we heard mixed “reviews” from others of the event. Some loved it and some hated it but I’ll just say it was an experience we will not soon forget. Ronnie and I aren’t adventuresome eaters, especially when it comes to seafood, so we pretty much stuck to foods that we recognized. We both enjoyed the entertainment, although admittedly it was too loud (one had to yell to be heard by the person seated next to them). It was also very hot inside the cave, despite the number of fans that were blowing. Some guests took advantage of free unlimited alcohol and got pretty obnoxious toward the end of the evening. But like I said, all in all a memorable evening and one that I’m glad we got to experience.