Gazing at Towering Limestone Pillars in Halong Bay

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Gazing at towering limestone pillars in Halong Bay should be on everyone's list when visiting Vietnam. I won't sugarcoat the less attractive aspects of Halong Bay, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. It's riddled with hundreds of junk boats. It’s polluted because of the hundreds of junk boats. It's crowded with tourists (contributing to the pollution). It's over-commercialized (because all the tourists want to go). A vicious circle it is.

But it's also quite an exceptional kind of place.

We only spent two days gazing at towering limestone pillars in Halong Bay but it was plenty of time to take part in the fun activities on hand.

Instead of reserving a junk boat in advance, we decided to just show up and hope for the best. While wandering around the harbor, a friendly young man came up to us offering an excursion on his junk boat. We had read plenty of bad stories about some of the boats so we decided to wait and see the junk boat, first.

After a few hours of waiting, his junk boat finally docked. I wasn't impressed with the washed-out white exterior so I wanted to see inside before paying for the one-night cruise. I was so surprised to see how clean and impeccable the rooms actually were! The bed sheets were a crisp white, the tiny bathroom was spotless and the decor was adorable!

I was really looking forward to our cruise on the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin!

As mentioned previously, there's a number of fun activities to do in Halong Bay:

Hang Sung Sot Cave is one of the biggest and most popular caves in Vietnam. Colored spotlights point out the more unusual rock formations shaped like familiar objects or animals. The entrance fee isn't included in your junk boat excursion but it's very minimal so a visit to the cave is worth it. Also, the coolness inside the cave is a welcome respite from the humidity and heat outside.

The activity I enjoyed the most was kayaking which was included in the price of our excursion. It's at this time I realized how small we were in the shadows of the towering limestone pillars.

The people living in the floating fishing village waved from afar, and laughed at our attempts at navigating the kayak. I was enchanted by the colors of the ram-shackled houses floating in one of the world's most famous bays.

Climbing the hundreds of steps to the top of one of the karst formations was a workout but the views were very rewarding. This unobstructed viewpoint is where you can admire Halong Bay at its best. From above, the limestone pillars looked like a cluster of handsome stately gentlemen dressed in their finest apparel. Get your cameras ready to snap a few pics of the awesome panorama!