Floating Mountains: Halong Bay & Bai Tu Long Bay, Vietnam

The creative director of the move Avatar must have been inspired by Halong Bay in Vietnam as there are few other places in the world where mountains appear to float weightlessly. While the imaginary planet in Avatar has mountains that suspend mid-air, Halong Bay’s mountains soak in pools of blue. Sunsets soften the edges of the sharp cliffs, color the sky and offer reflections that make sky and sea indistinguishable.

It’s no wonder the bay is one of Vietnam’s most visited attractions, with hordes of “junks” that float its waters on packaged cruises. We tend to loathe organized tours and try with all our might to travel independently, but there are some places that cannot be seen without a guide. Halong Bay is one of them. So when we searched for a tour operator, we looked for one that cruises away from the frequently touristed areas with only a small group while treading carefully on the environment and local community. Ethnic Travel fit the bill, and one of the highlights was that its boat cruises both Halong Bay and the less touristed Bai Tu Long Bay.

It was a beautiful, albeit hot, day sailing Halong Bay. After feasting on a meal of spring rolls, breaded tofu, grilled squid and sauteed shrimp, we relaxed on the deck of the boat and took in the scenery. In the late afternoon, we visited a “floating village, a town built entirely on a string of floating decks. There’s even a floating school! Later, we took a swim in water but the dim light of the evening did not hide the trash that would float by in clumps. It quickly shook me out of the daze that Halong had seduced me into and thrust me into the realization that Vietnam like much of Asia seeks money and advancement at a cost. Despite being a UNESCO world heritage site, I was hard pressed to see what the title has done to help protect the Bay from the impact of tourism.

It rained hard that night and into the early morning. At 5am, Ben woke up, looked out the window and rushed out with his camera. The rain was falling in patches that were hit by the rising sun in such a way that it looked like it was raining gold. After so many lost sunsets and mornings when we overslept, Ben was giddy to have captured the perfect moment on film.

We kayaked in the morning then sailed back to get on yet another minibus to go to Bai Tu Long Bay, just an hour away. Apparently the junks don’t sail fast enough to sail between the two bays.  But the bus ride was worth it; Nary a tourist at this bay’s port and few boats in the bay itself save a lone fisherman or two.  Though the rocks don’t have the scale of Halong Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay has the advantage of its serenity.  Long placid waterways flanked by jagged black rock sprinkled with greenery set a much different stage.   We spent the evening on Quan Lan Island at a “homestay”, which was really more like a non air conditioned basic B&B with hosts that barely spoke to us.  After a restless hot night, we got some pho and headed out on some rented bikes for a tour of the little island and a dip at the beach.  It was raining by the time we returned to the boat but the mist atop the water made our sail to shore even more beautiful.