The View from the Edge: Cruising with the Dragon

I'm not even going to lie. This blog is going to be a blatant excuse to show pretty pictures.

It used to be that the marker of a wonderful day was excitement in the morning, driving me out of bed early. Today, I have exceeded that high water mark. I am sitting on a private balcony on the top floor of a small cruise ship. It is dusk, and the lights from other small cruise ships flicker before me like fireflies. Behind them, the faint silhouettes of monstrous stone island formations loom like friendly giants in the night.

With this backdrop, I am no longer content to be excited at dawn’s first light. I am honestly dreading going to bed tonight, afraid to miss a minute of this splendor.

Please ignore the facial hair. It was Noor's honeymoon. She gets what she wants.

The location is Ha Long Bay, and this cruise was the primary motivation for a Vietnam honeymoon. I had heard of it since it was selected as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, along with the Amazon, Table Mountain, and Iguazu Falls. It consists of approximately 2,000 stone islands spread along the northern coast of Vietnam. These are no ordinary rock formations; they are 10 to 20 stories high, and rise like fingers from the water. Or, if you have a nerdier predisposition, they are reminiscent of the towering statues that greeted Sam and Frodo as they rafted through the entrance to Gondor.

Pictured: Both the scales of the dragon in the back and a community
of fishermen in the front.

Of course, the locals have a different story. According to them, ancient Vietnam was surrounded by enemies, and so they prayed to the gods for help in defending their new country. They responded by sending a family of dragons. They helped defeat the invading armies; in the process, some of the flame kissed the bay and formed large jade formations, which now are the isolated stone obelisks. Once their task was complete, they returned to the bay and entered its waters. As they rest beneath the waters, the scales on their back are still visible as long, contiguous sections of stone. Hence the name Ha Long, or "descending dragon."

A task as simple as lunch turned into a two hour affair, as it became impossible to focus on the food in front of us. Every minute, the meal was stopped to capture an inspirational sight. Bridges of Hanoi on the horizon. Floating communities housing dozens of fishermen. The perfect angle of sun cutting between two towers.

Thanks to our distracted lunch, we just barely make it out in time for our first activity: kayaking. It is Noor’s first time, and my last experience in a kayak turned into bumper boats. Despite ourselves, we successfully navigate two caves (twice each) during the 90 minute excursion. It even briefly turns into a safari, when a rare endangered Cat Ba langur monkey emerges in the jungle canopy.

Seriously, you try sleeping with this going on around you!

I could talk about the excursions during the cruise, but the reality was that no excursion was necessary. Perhaps only the Rift Valley is the only other place I've been that so immediately captures your sense of wonder. The scale, shape, and number of the rock formations defies explanation or comprehension. All one is left to do is drink it all in, and I hope these pictures transport you there in a way my words are failing to do so. Suffice to say, it was the single most romantic experience in both of our lives.