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

Early morning rain on Halong Bay

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.

Sunset on Halong Bay

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.

One of the many limestone cliffs of Halong Bay

Sunset swim in Halong 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.

A floating village in Halong Bay

Our transportation in the floating village

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.

Sunrise on Halong Bay

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.

Lone fisherman on Bai Tu Long Bay

The cliffs of Bai Tu Long Bay

Misty morning on Bai Tu Long Bay

Quan Lan island

Elephant Ride to the Hills of Chiang Dao.

So we’ve been away from internet access for a few days (it’s slooooow when we do have it in Laos), and what a wonderful surprise to come back and see that we were featured on Freshly Pressed!  A big welcome to our new audience, and we hope you’ll keep reading!

Our ride for the day.

I rode an elephant once in my life as a child at a carnival in my hometown. He was chained and led to walk in a circle. I was at the back of the line of children riding the butt, which was so wide my legs shot straight out in each direction. The experience wasn’t especially memorable and so when I heard about elephant riding in Thailand, I wasn’t as excited about it as Ben.

The Mahout.

Perhaps setting is everything then, because riding elephants through the mountainous regions of Northern Thailand was simply breathtaking. Sitting atop the elephant means your plane of sight is several feet higher than it would be just hiking through the jungle. You can see views that would be otherwise obstructed by trees and bushes. Yet the most exhilarating part is experiencing the elephant in its natural habitat and feeling the power of this mighty beast as it heaves and breaks fallen trees in it’s path. And you are witness to the ability of man to communicate with animal as your “mahout” (trainer) grunts and rubs his feet to command the elephant to action.

Crossing the stream into the village.

We traveled through the jungle and down through rice paddies and corn fields to a small tribal village where we disembarked and the elephants played and washed themselves in a nearby spring. The villagers, anticipating our arrival, had laid out their handmade goods and were making a heavy sale. It was uncomfortable at times, but you recognize that their pushiness comes from this sale being one of their only means of making a living. We purchased a wooden slingshot, a woven coin purse and shoulder bag for family members. We continued to walk through the picturesque village, filled with flowers, butterflies, and children eager to play with us. Three more villages and a bamboo raft ride later, we were loaded with woven trinkets and ready to retire for the day. Next stop: Laos.

Wrinkly trunk.

These elephants wanted to get close.

A village girl sits by the bathing elephants.

Don't get these elephants angry.

Village children, always happy.

A village woman weaves an intricate design.

One of the many butterflies floating around the village.

Playing Seepak Takraw

A village kid kicks high while playing Seepak Takraw

There’s something romantic about traveling by motorbike.  Perhaps its the open air, the winding and unknown road, or maybe the people you meet along the way.  We’d been hesitant to try it because we’ve never driven a motorbike before.  But Chiang Dao is a small area with little traffic and most residents drive slowly, conserving petrol by turning off the engine to glide down the hills. So we thought it the perfect place to practice.  We rented a shiny red automatic from the neighbor for a total of $200 baht ($7) and set out with a hand drawn map from the Nest. We rode across town up through the jungle-filled mountainside and turned at whatever road seemed most intriguing. Some were muddy and led nowhere while others led to little villages packed with beautiful happy people and bamboo huts overlooking picture book vistas. At this village, Ben joined a game of Takraw, which involves a bamboo ball bounced by foot like a hacky sack over a volley ball net. Girls were clearly unwelcome in this game, so I spent time with the women and their children watching the game by the side lines.  Below are several pictures from the game, which is popular throughout Southeast Asia.

The game involves the flexible ball like a hackey sack

 

The net was loosely rigged to wooden posts dug in the ground.

The ball once made of bamboo is now made of plastic.

 

The rigged net.

 

Little boy anticipates the ball.

Ben tries his foot at Seepak Takraw.

Chiang Dao: Fairytale Thailand

Woman selling longan, a lychee-like fruit grown in Thailand.

I’ve been dreaming of glistening rice paddies, families packed four to a motorbike, hillside villages overrun with cute children and mist covered mountain tops.  They’re the fairy tale images I had of Thailand.  And I discovered them all in Chiang Dao, a small town just an hour and half bus ride north of Chiang Mai. So beautiful this place was, we lingered an extra day.

Durian, Rambutan and Mangosteen.

We arrived in Chiang Dao around 11am, just in time to catch the tail end of the Tuesday morning market when hill tribes come to town to sell fruit and vegetables. We bought sliced durian fruit, mangosteens, rambutans, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and a hulking avocado (later to be eaten like an apple!) before catching a taxi for the fifteen minute ride to our mountainside stay, Chiang Dao Nest.

Misty mountain view from Chiang Dao Nest.

As we rode, the trees got taller and the mist thicker.  Tucked behind a curve in the road was a collection of thatched roof bungalows connected by gravel footpaths.  We were greeted with fresh lemongrass juice and invited to drop our bags at a cozy little bungalow with a private porch and a large king sized bed dressed in hand-made tribal fabrics. It was raining heavily, so we found shelter beneath a large thatch roof covered platform with tons of colorful floor cushions. There we spent the afternoon reading and listening to the percussive song of a diversity of birds.

Lemongrass juice on arrival at Nest.

Rain that lasted for three days.

When the rain slowed, we grabbed umbrellas and ventured to Chiang Dao cave, a 10 minute walk away.  The cave was filled with Buddhas and a pond with supposedly sacred fish, though that pond had become heavily flooded due to the non-stop rain.  There were few people around and in the rain and mist, the area had a certain magical quality to it.

The road to Chiang Dao cave.

Dogs hanging out near Chiang Dao cave.

Old Chedi outside the Chiang Dao cave.

We wandered back for dinner at the restaurant at Nest.  Chef Wicha has two restaurants within walking distance of one another. One serving inventive “western” food and the other offering creative Northern Thai cuisine all sourced from local organic ingredients.  We started with the western restaurant, delighting with the taste of delicate pumpkin soup, crispy duck in sesame sauce and slow-cooked tender lamb.  Click below to listen to the birds of Chiang Dao.