NOODLE NONSENSE: Halong Bay

Two weeks into orientation, we were given a weekend trip to Halong Bay, courtesy of our WorldTeach program. It's a 4-5 hour bus ride outside of Hanoi and if you have never heard of Halong Bay, look it up as it is one of the prettiest and most unique places that I have ever been. I visited it last time I was in Hanoi and did a 3 day trip and spent one night on a boat and another night on a private island. Of course, there was no way that could be topped with our strict budget and limited time frame but 2 days was good enough this time around.

I last sailed Halong Bay in October 2012, and since then it has been deemed one of the 7 New Natural Wonders of the World as of January 2013. I'm not sure if this has affected the tourism rate of the Bay but it certainly seems like it. Instead of arriving at a normal, dirty port with little shops around it, we arrived at a shiny, new port with a large entrance building, fancy restaurants and brand new strips of condos lining the harbor. Not sure why anyone would want a condo right where thousands of tourists pour in and out of every day and the air pollution is crap but who knows, they are building them anyways. There were literally red carpets rolled out for people to walk on before boarding the taxi boats to take them out to the bigger boats. Before we half wadded into the water and prayed to not fall in completely while jumping into the small boats. I actually thought we were at the wrong port because it looked so different than just nine months earlier. Also, since the Bay has been named a New Wonder of the World (which they are VERY proud of), the government decided that all boats that sail Halong Bay must be painted white instead of the array of colors they were painted in the past.

We had a great weekend away from the city. We kayaked, hiked, explored caves, went swimming and sang a lot of karaoke on the boat (it's a Vietnamese obsession). I managed to not get stung by a massive jellyfish this time around so that was a huge plus. We also ate a lot of seafood! I was so excited for this #1 because I remember how good the seafood was last time and #2 because the food we've been eating at the school's canteen is disgusting, which is too bad because Vietnamese food is so good when it's prepared nicely.   The food on the boat was good, it was just too bad that everything was very fried. Even the corn they served was fried. I am going to get so chubby again.

I was very sad to see all of the pollution in the Bay that I never remember seeing last time and I wonder if it's from the increase in floating villages and the increase in tourism. However, as long as they keep the islands in the Bay clear of hotels or resorts, hopefully it will not lose it's natural beauty. Mom and Dad, I'll be sending you guys out here when you come visit ;)