Continued from… Visiting Hanoi…
The next day, my friends and I hired a car to take us to Ha Long Bay, a world heritage site with its 1600 islands and islets of limestone formed over millions of years. We went directly to the harbour to board our boat. It was a traditional junk boat, which fortunately for us, was all ours for the overnight trip. There were no other passengers so we had the entire upper deck, restaurant and lounge as well as the four cabins to ourselves.
I have always loved boat rides and as we made our way across the Gulf of Tonkin, I spent a lot of time on the outer deck enjoying the feel of the sea spray and the chilly wind. The beautiful rock formations loomed ahead and it was fun trying to figure out shapes in some unique rock formations.
We eventually docked at one point and the guide took us on a tour of Thien Cung grotto (the Heavenly palace cave). The impressive stalactites and stalagmites were highlighted by surreal lighting.
After re-boarding our boat, we resumed our sea journey. We passed a lovely floating fishing village.
Floating fishing village
Our boat eventually entered a lovely cove, where there were only a few other barges, and dropped anchor for the night.
That evening, we took our time over the delicious dinner that the crew had cooked for us. While I did enjoy our conversations and it was lovely to share the experience with friends, I enjoyed my moments of solitude the most on this visit to Ha Long bay. Especially the moments when I watched the sea, as rays of sunlight broke through the clouds or as the sun set…
and especially the next morning, as I watched dawn break over the gulf and the sun gradually rose above the horizon. It was a spiritual moment and I felt happy and content.
As the boat lifted its anchor, I made my way back to the restaurant to enjoy my morning cup of coffee and wait for my friends to join me for breakfast.
[I am sharing this post at the Weekend Wanderlust link up and The Weekly Postcard]
Perspectives Quilt 
Very interesting 🙂 nice post
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Thank you 🙂
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awesome! I’m a travel blogger on here too! 🙂 http://www.tifness.com
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Thank you, Latifa, and you do have a lovely blog.
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What a beautiful place!
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You’re real Globetrotters Ahila. The pictures are so beautiful and I love the picture of Floating fishing village. Happy FF! 🙂
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Thank you, Linda 🙂 I loved being at Ha Long Bay.
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What a beautiful place to visit Ahila. I love your photos. It would have been all the more special to experience this area on a traditional junk too.
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Thank you 🙂 Yes, being on a junk boat did add to the experience.
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Your pictures are lovely! I’ve heard many good things about Ha Long Bay but some people have also complained that it’s too touristy, with vendors coming up to the boats in their own boats and trying to sell stuff. Glad that you had a peaceful time!
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Thank you, Michelle 🙂 I guess I was lucky that our tour operator not only gave us a private boat but also there were few other boats, none of which were vendors, at the cove where we stayed for the night.
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Gorgeous post!
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Thank you, Tammi.
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I think I am definitely going to enjoy your blog! You visit such interesting places that I haven’t had the chance to see yet. These islands and seas look amazing – I remember them from the film Indochine.
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Thank you, Mandy 🙂 Will look out for the film Indochine – haven’t watched it.
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This really sounds like a lovely experience. The scenery is absolutely stunning and I really like the way they lit up those caves. Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard.
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It was a lovely experience, Anisa, and the short excursions onshore to explore the caves were fascinating.
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This is so high on my travel to do list. We wanted to do it over Christmas, but it would have involved way too many flights. You’ve inspired me even more now! Thanks for sharing on #theweeklypostcard.
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Glad to hear that Ha Long Bay is on your travel plans and hope you make it there soon!
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Sounds like a fab trip and having the boat to yourselves was a bonus ball! #TheWeeklyPostcard
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It was a wonderful trip. I especially enjoyed watching the sun rise on the horizon and lighting up the beautiful surroundings, from the top deck of the boat, where I was the only one for hours.
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What a beautiful trip, Ahila! I can only imagine how romantic it must be to have such a bot all to yourselves. You always visit such interesting places, some of which I haven’t even heard about. Thanks for sharing this post. #TheWeeklyPostcard.
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Thank you, Anda. It was fun having the whole boat to ourselves as we lingered over our extensive dinner and had the top deck all to ourselves as we watched the sun set and rise over the beautiful landscape.
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I love your shot of the floating village with the tall rock formations in the background, so iconic!
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Thank you, Jim. It was a very special place.
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The Heavenly Palace Cave looks stunning. It always amazes me how stalactites and stalagmites form to create such great shapes. Also very cool that you got to stay the night on the boat, and to see dawn break from it in the morning!
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Watching dawn break over that beautiful landscape was such a special moment, indeed.
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