One night stand on Ha Long Bay
Written by Jimmy Vu (info@vietnamimpressive.com)
Saturday, 05 August 2006
A recent survey discovered an overnight stay on Ha Long Bay is one of Viet Nam’s top ten experiences for foreign travellers. Thuy Ha stays over.
When Ha Long Bay was recognised by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site in 1997, tourism seemed to be bursting at the seams in this truly unique place.
Hundreds of tourist companies, both domestic and international, built their tours around Ha Long Bay, providing tourists with a wide range of choices for their journeys to enjoy the unique beauty of the bay, which lies along the Hon Gai coastal town in Quang Ninh province. Most people chose to stay one or two nights on board, with elegant food presentations and adventure options to entertain more rugged travellers.
I chose to spend a night at Ha Long Bay with the the Ha Long Ginger, a large wooden ship dripping with old-world charm. I really wanted to spend more than one night on this boat after quietly chugging along through the innumerable aquatic paths created by each uninhabited island.
After more than two hours travelling by car, including a 30-minute break halfway to Ha Long Bay to visit an embroidery and shopping handicraft centre, we arrived at Hon Gai’s port at noon. A small ferry took us through the busy port to the Ginger, which was waiting for us to weigh anchor.
Cruise manager Michelle Thong stood on deck waving as the Ginger approached, her white ao dai billowing in the wind – a true vision against the blue sea and sky of Ha Long Bay in the afternoon. Along with the Ha Long Ginger, our tour guide Hoang and the 18 other crew members of the boat gave us an unforgettable tour of the bay.
We sailed deep into the bay for about four hours, breathing in the fresh sea air the whole way. After the captain ordered his crew to set sail, new sounds and colours filled the air, giving us a truly beautiful experience.
Cruise manager Sonny Bui escorted us to our cabins and handed us keys in the shape of a fish. The air-conditioned room really won us over with large windows for viewing the scenery, a sparkling bathroom, five-star fluffy beds and all amenities.
After wandering through the busy route along Hon Gai Town and eating a delicious lunch on board, the cruise took us past Bai Tu Long, the small beach at the bottom of a mountain where famous French movie L’Indochine was shot.
The wind took us to a tranquil beach, which lies in a small bay where many ships take a short breather for swimming.
You can also explore your rowing ability with the Ha Long Ginger’s tour, which drops you at Doi Cave, a short tunnel through to a tiny bay where you kayak in singles or doubles.
By the time you return to the vessel, anchored just outside the cave, the day is winding down and it’s time for a shower and an elegant, relaxing dinner.
The white linen tablecloths and soft candlelight offered romance to couples and serenity to groups who wish to sit together at one bigger table.
Various salads, shrimp, tofu, chicken, beef and fish were among the many dishes prepared to suit many different palates.
After dinner we relaxed around the table with the Ginger’s special cocktail, a melange of soft drinks and ginger and lemongrass extract. Some of us got outdoors on the open-air deck to enjoy Ha Long Bay at night, which sparkled with lights from small boats hunting for squid.
Later at night we all gathered in the lounge around the cruise ‘DJ’ (a member of the staff), who showed us his music selection and let us create our own soundtrack for the night.
We chose some Latin first to warm up our dance then delved into hip-hop. After a while the DJ played ballroom music for us to swing around on the wooden floor.
The dancing, plus the melodious sound of the waves you can hear from your room, really put us to sleep quickly.
The following morning begins with a tai chi class at sunrise on the 200sq.m deck, but only if you sign up for it. A cooking class is also available later in the morning.
While lunch and dinner the previous day were served in restaurant fashion, the brunch was buffet-style, affording late sleepers an equal shot at a plateful of warm seafood and cool salads.
You should wake up just in time for a visit to Sung Sot (Amazing) Cave on route back to the port for departure. We climbed what seemed like a thousand steps for an impressive scenic view of the bay from the cave, which is one of the things that makes Ha Long Bay so unique. Sung Sot is by far the largest and most beautiful cave in Ha Long.
Some of us chose to visit a fishing village after the vessel dropped anchor to see people living adrift in a small community, earning their living by fishing and selling foodstuffs on small boats.
Ginger flower
Bui Cao Son, or Sonny Bui, who worked 12 years in tourism travelling to many places inside and outside Viet Nam, is the man behind the Ginger.
Son said he wanted to do something on his own to capitalise and develop what he had learnt and experienced after years working as a tour guide.
The 36-year-old, called Sonny Bui by his foreign friends, wanted to make something different from the tours which have been mostly designed on the same route.
“Our route is wider and goes through new interesting places that others do not,” said Son. “That’s the first thing we aimed at when we started building up our tour two years ago.”
“The most discouraging thing for us is the idea that there is not a professional wooden shipbuilding company,” said Bui Cao Son, who eventually got the Ha Long Ginger built after 14 months of working with fishing boat builders.
The US$500,000 beauty, which has 10 rooms and can serve a maximum of 20 travellers, was put into operation early this year.
The boat was built through the co-ordination of Huong Hai Company, which has more than 10 years of experience designing and building boats for tourists to stay on overnight. Huong Hai boats are among the first giving overnight tours at Ha Long Bay.
The Ginger blends classical beauty with modern comfort, catering to groups of between six and 20 people. Measuring 38m in length and 8m in width, it has three decks that house the elegant restaurant, a lounge, two bars, a small boutique and a library, as well as ten luxurious sleeping cabins.
Fitted out with wood and bamboo, its interior is charming. The stylish decoration of the dining room – not to mention the fact that the staff change their uniforms to serve meals – is highly impressive, seemingly more suited to a five-star hotel.
“Sonny and I designed the cruise,” said Thong, a Malaysian-American who worked as a tour escort/leader in the USbefore coming to Viet Nam four years ago. “We worked hard together to create a design which could give the best comfort to our customers,” said Thong who has been working on the Ginger cruise for a year.
“We put a lot of ideas into the blueprint with an aim to infuse Vietnamese style in western comfort,” added Thong. She did a boat project in HCM City two years ago before working with Son on the Ginger.
Thong said the cruise was designed to emphasise taking care of customers and the staff are present to provide anything needed.
Amenities on the cruise are from the same provider of Park Hyatt, ensuring guests feel they are in a world of luxury.
“To give visitors a good night of sleep, we equipped the rooms with high-quality beds,” said Son, adding that he wanted large windows (1.2mx1.3m) to give customers the best view from their rooms.
Bamboo is a major feature in the restaurant and lounge, which is associated with other kinds of wooden materials and flower designs making the whole middle deck’s ceiling into more of an artwork.
The mixture of elegant decorations, food and service left lasting impressions on customers after leaving the Ginger, most of which have plans to come back for a group celebration or possible honeymoon trips.
With the expected increase in number of customers, the Ginger will be joined by sisters to meet the demand of visitors.
“We are building two other cruises of such kind with the hope of giving more interesting tours to the visitors,” said Son, whose customers are mostly from five-star hotels like Metropole Ha Noi, Hilton and Sofitel Plaza.
The two new ships are to be named after two kinds of flowers, Jasmine and Violet, with which Son wants to add more elegant colours to Ha Long Bay. — VNS