Get wowed by WoW at Halong Bay

I can start by narrating to you that Halong bay is actually hundreds of many little islets popping out of the sea spread over vast area. They are all awkwardly shaped, standing over the green waters. They are considered a natural wonder of the world. And I wonder who makes these lists anyways. Not because I want argue that Halong Bay is not wonderful enough to be a wonder but because to classify something, anything as a wonder of the world is a sure way to ruin its charms and put it on the list of “no wonder it is not wonderful anymore” list.

While they claim that the mystery  and mist hangs over this awe-inspiring seascape, once you get to Hanoi, you realize that there is no greater mystery than in finding which agent will give you the best value for the least price. To me, more than Halong bay, the many hundreds of travel agents popping out the landscape of Hanoi’s old quarter are the wonder of the world. So, you do a day trip sampling some of the big and small travel shops in the area to be described the same itinerary again and again and being offered the same kind of prices over and over. The decision to be made is which class you want to fit yourself in: the budget or the luxury.

You are a backpacker but do you want to go back home with a bad experience on this one? No! So, let’s splurge a little bit. It is Halong Bay after all! A wonder of the world! But Halong Bay, we decided, is not worth the splurge. After spending three weeks in Vietnam and doing a few day trips in Ho Chi Minh city, we understood how crowded, monotonous the travel agent organized trips in Vietnam can be. We decided we could not stand it for two days leave alone three. A day trip was the only choice for us.

In toto 8 hours of bus ride, an hour of kayaking and a couple of caves and a sneak peek of Halong bay was enough for us. We paid $25 each, the budget tour not the luxury one although everyone told us that the budget cruises are horrible. How much worse could they be in four hours when everybody was going to travel to and fro in similar buses, we asked ourselves and were pleased with our assumptions. It wasn’t bad at all. And we were glad to be returning to our hotel at the end of the day with no curiosity as to what others will be doing on day two.