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Vietnam Travel  > Travel Special Features  > Discover Ha Long Bay  > Huong Hai Junk - Discover Ha Long Bay

Huong Hai Junk - Discover Ha Long Bay

We board the Huong Hai, a traditional wooden junk, at noon, having driven straight from Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport to the coastal town of Bai Chay. Decorated with wood and bamboo, the junk's interior is both cozy and charming. Soon after we full away from the pier, lunch is served. With seating for 14, the dining room is intimate, giving the passengers a chance to get acquainted. White wine seems appropriate for this festive occasion, and we toast our voyage and delve into the seafood for which Quang Ninh province is famous.

Away from the coast, the fresh smell of salt fills the air. The captain now orders his crew to hoist the sails, which sand out a deep purple against the blue sky. Accompanied by the sound of the wind on the sails, we make our way past towering dark green islands asmy sterious and fantastically shaped as fairytale castles.

The upper deck is the perfect, breezy place to sunbathe or scan die magnificent scenery. Fearful of sunburn, I sit on a shady sofa and flip through an album of photos of some of the bay's strangely shaped islets, which others have compared to a toad, a clog, a swam, a seal, chopsticks, or fighting cocks.

We cruise towards a small pier, where we disembark to visit Sung Sot (Big Surprise) Cave. After climbing about 50 steps up and 10 steps down, we enter a mysterious underground cavern in which thousands of stalactites glisten like giant raindrops. In the soft light, piles of rocks resemble beautifully carved pillars. We all imagine different forms; some compare the limestone formations to a young girl's fingers; others see flying dragons, tortoises or massive flowers.

By the time we reach Ti Top beach, the sun is low. Though small, the beach is pristine, while the water in the bay is calm and inviting. I float on my back, watching thin pink clouds drift past as the sun sinks slowly behind an immense chain of islands.