We returned to Golden Times 3 Hostel at around 8pm and only had time to grab something to eat and bed down before our early morning pickup. I had been in two minds about whether to do the famed Halong Bay cruise. I was concerned about the environmental degradation that was going on in the area. I don’t kid myself that tourism is in any way shape or form environmentally friendly. If I was really committed to protecting the environment I’d probably stay in Bexhill. And maybe I will in my latter years. My Mum keeps telling me that there is nowhere better in the world. But for now that is too big a compromise for me to make. On the other hand, if there are less destructive options available I try to take them.

In the end the lure of the you tube pundits raving about how great the Halong Bay cruises are got the better of me. Rather than choosing a Halong Bay cruise I chose a Bai Tu Long Bay cruise. Bai Tu Long is the bay next to Halong and takes a bit longer to get to, so it is less heavily touristed. I guess it could be argued that picking this cruise just means that the damage inflicted by tourism will be spread deeper and wider. Maybe this is a trip that I should have just left off my list?

Our driver was efficient and upbeat in a way that only the Vietnamese can manage. He had tags for us to wear so he didn’t lose us at the rest stop and did roll call to check we were all present.

It took us about 4 hours to reach Halong Bay port where the cruise starts. Once again Tim was in an area of Vietnam that he had previously visited but no longer recognised. Once again there was evidence of multi national corporations cashing in and opening up big hotel chains. Once again there was a cable car in evidence. Once again there were hulking half built constructions blighting the landscape.

After a short wait, Vic, our hugely efficient cruise manager introduced himself. I think he should really be working as a concierge in a very upmarket hotel. I was extremely impressed with his skilful handling of the cruise. His English was perfect and he led us and the whole crew of our boat on an impossibly tight schedule without making us feel rushed at any stage.

We were led to a small boat that would transfer us to our cruise junk. Although they’re called ‘junks’ they’re diesel powered boats, no sails in evidence. There were around thirty other passengers.

We had been warned that the cabins were small, but we have stayed in hotel rooms that were a lot smaller. There was plenty of room to move around and stash our luggage and the bathroom was quite luxurious. We headed on deck and began to watch the scenery unfold. The karsts are a beautiful sight as they emerge from the ocean, covered in vegetation. Soon we were being served lunch as we sailed towards Bai Tu Long bay. It takes 2 – 3 hours to get there. The lunch was delicious, there were at least five courses. I thought I might burst by the end of it. Tim and I treated ourselves to a glass of Vietnamese white wine which tasted delicious, but I am no wine connoisseur.

After lunch it was time to go canoeing and swimming on a small beach. I enjoyed the canoeing but I decided not to swim as I had been reading about the heavy metal and e-coli pollution in the South China Sea. The pollution is not all down to tourism. I believe that the massive Chinese conurbations of Hong Kong and Guangzhou are responsible for a lot of it – in addition to international shipping of course. Fears of pollution did not seem to bother any of my fellow cruisers though, who jumped in enthusiastically. I felt mildly jealous of their carefree attitude. There are down sides to being a pessimist with health anxiety. Tim helped Vic remove a number of enormous jelly fishes that had been floating on the surface of the water, ready to attack the unsuspecting bathers. Then we wandered up and down the sand.

In the evening we watched the sun go down over Mai Thai cocktails on deck. It was so peaceful and romantic watching the sky change colour and the karsts turn into dark shadows. We were served another generous and delicious meal and turned in early as we knew that we needed to be ready for an early morning wake up call.

I and three other cruisers opted to for a Tai Chi class on deck with Vic at 6:30am the next morning. We followed his movements, completing a Vietnamese Tai Chi sequence a couple of times. Then he demonstrated some Chinese Tai Chi to us. This is a lot harder as it involves balancing on one leg while completing lots of fluid movements. I have wanted to try Tai Chi for a while so this was a good opportunity for me and I might try and follow it up with a class when I get home.

After breakfast we headed into the small boats again to go and visit an island cave. After visiting the caves of Trang An this was a good but slightly underwhelming experience, but maybe I am getting a bit jaded. There was also a beach on the small island. This was more beautiful than the one we had canoed to the previous day but swimming was not allowed.

Spending time on the beaches gave me a chance to look at the karsts close up rather than from the vantage point of the boat. They are enormous structures. It’s easy to imagine how they must have once formed an underwater world. The vegetation they are covered in in Bai Tu Long bay isn’t as thick as that on the inland karsts at Trang An. I am not sure if that is due to the salt water, the different type of location or pollution.

Vic told me that the Halong Bay cruises visit a much larger cave, so this bit of the Bai Tu Long cruise is not as spectacular as the Halong Bay cruise. However there are many more people on the beaches and on the cave visit for the Halong cruise, so it doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience. Tim thinks he visited this larger cave previously, but in those days it had very few visitors and those that did come had to bring their own flashlights. Tim saw very little of the cave as his flashlight was nabbed by some fellow backpackers and he and an elderly woman he was assisting nearly fell down several large holes as they struggled to get out of the cave!

I asked Vic about the pollution and whether he thought that parts of Halong bay would ever get closed down, like the Thai government has closed down certain area in Ko Phi Phi to let them regenerate. Vic thought this was unlikely. Halong Bay provides livings for many Vietnamese and generates billions of dollars of tourist revenue and nobody is going to be willing to give that up. On the positive side the Vietnamese government has recently introduced a very strict ban on all plastics in the area. Boat companies get fined if any plastic is allowed on board and their operations are suspended for a period of time. This seems to be having an impact. There’s a growing recognition that without preserving the nature in places like Halong Bay the tourist revenue could eventually be destroyed, as people will no longer want to visit.

Vic explained that like elsewhere in Vietnam locals were paid ‘incentives’ to leave the Halong Bay area when tourism was developed. He explained that the only people that stayed were old people who found it too stressful to leave. They are now employed fishing for rubbish rather than fish, like the women we saw on rubbish fishing boats in Trang An. I mulled on the parallels with locals being priced out in say, Hastings old town or Cornwall. Have they got any more effective means of protest than the locals do in Vietnam? And do the raised prices of property offer them similar opportunities to economically improve their lives?

We ate lunch as we sailed back to Halong Bay cruise port. It was only 10:30am, but we had got up early. We had to be out of our cabins by 9:15 as the staff have only 45 minutes to clean them ready for the next lot of cruise passengers. All hands were on deck, with both staff and cruisers being insistently but gently managed very skilfully by Vic, who was just the right side of assertive in his manner. I was impressed with the way the crew worked together as a team. Vic told me that they are like a family and have all been working together for years. Romances have occurred on board with several crew members marrying each other.

We were soon back at Halong port and on the return bus to Hanoi. So would I do the cruise again? It isn’t on the list of my top experiences in Vietnam so far (more of this in a future blogpost) and I think that if you want to see caves and karsts there are better places to go. But our cruise with Renea was fun, romantic and good value.