For the first time in
about 7 weeks I felt I
was breathing fresh air
as I had already become
accustomed to the smog
of the city.
of companies offering boat trips and
cruises of the bay. We decided on an
over night cruise which I would highly
recommend as we were able to watch
the sun set turning the sky pink in the
evening and wake up to the sun rising
between the islands which was just
magical. As part of our cruise we went
kayaking around the bay and through
caves as well as exploring in a cave
by foot with a tour guide which was
incredible. There are many islands
that you can visit but one of the more
common islands is known as Cát Bà
National Park. The island has a white
sandy beach with crystal blue waters
for swimming, as well as mountains to
climb if you fancy a trek and a fantastic
view of the bay at the top. At dusk, as
the sun was setting, we had dinner on
the top of our boat, the waters were
calm and still and the only sound we
heard were the occasional passing
of other boats (which made a nice
change from the constant beeping of
motorbike horns in the city!). Halong
Bay is definitely worth a visit to escape
the intensity and heat and you will find
some peace and serenity even if for just
a couple of days. It was the highlight
of my whole trip in Vietnam and
somewhere I would love to go back and
visit again one day.
TAM DAO NATIONAL PARK:
About 85km from Hanoi you will find one
of the most beautiful views I think I have
ever witnessed. We had to drive (on
motorbikes!) up a steep mountainous
road to reach the top where you are
greeted by a small village known as
Tam Dao town. The first thought that
crossed my mind was the difference in
the air quality, for the first time in about
64
7 weeks I felt I was breathing fresh air
as I had already become accustomed to
the smog of the city. The town is at an
elevation of approximately 900 metres
so it is noticeably cooler than being
in the city, as we were at the height of
tropical season this was the first time I
felt I needed to wear a jumper or even a
coat! The breath-taking view is worth a
trip to Tam Dao town alone, it is unlike
anything I have ever seen before, and
will probably ever see again. The only
sounds you can hear are birds singing
and the slight rustle of leaves amongst
the forest. This made a welcome change
to the constant bee ping of motorbikes in
the city! It was one of the most peaceful
places I have been.
We began our trek through the
mountains, there are a number of trails
you can take which lead to various
mountain peaks but we chose to climb
to the “three peaks” as we had heard
this was one of the most impressive
views, complete with waterfalls. To
my relief, this didn’t turn out to be a
mountainous trek complete with rock-
climbing gear! We did however, have
to climb what felt like over 1000 steps
to get to the top, but getting there
was all worth it, the three peaks didn’t
disappoint, there was greenery for as far
as the naked eye could see. We were
lucky enough to make it to the top in
time to catch the sun setting, which was
beyond anything I had ever imagined.
There were 2 natural waterfalls that ran
down the side of a mountain, complete
with rockpools and a small pool of water
deep enough to swim in (which we
would have done had we not have felt
cold!).