In a new Dabbler travel mini-series, writer and seasoned globetrotter Valerie McTavish offers Snapshots from her current travels in Cambodia and Vietnam. Second stop: Halong Bay, possibly Vietnam’s most famous natural attraction.

Limestone towers float past us as we dip our paddles into the waters of Halong Bay. The rise of these rock islands is at once stunning and puzzling. They jut out of the water, pointy and sure and then stop. Some of the islands are lush with green shrubs and grass decorating their face, while others are a finger of stone, bulbous at the bottom and seemingly teetering on a disappearing needle beneath the surface. We negotiate our way around the hundreds of Junks (really replicas of the traditional Chinese Junk boats) that have ferried the tourists to this World Heritage Site in varying degrees of comfort and luxury. There are over 200 boats working their way through these islands and trotting visitors into the few designated sites, like Surprising Cave. The natural beauty of the massive cave is spectacularly destroyed by the coloured lights and long line of tourists who all feel a need to rub the surface of the stalactites and point out all the formations that look phallic. But in our kayak, we find ourselves on the route less travelled, up close and personal with the bay. Our guide, Quang, has left his family in the Sapa region to point out caves and arches to tourists. He diligently tells us the typical old tales of rock hideaways that harboured lovers torn apart by familial obligations. He waited patiently as we scrambled and climbed in our discovery of these awe inspiring natural works of art. From the top of one of the larger islands, we could see dots of rock on the watery landscape stretched out well into the South China Sea. A haze hung woven in between like cobwebs in an abandoned barn.

Our paddles rhythmically slapped the water, droplets trickling down to our hands and into our laps. Watching the slicing of blue sea made it impossible to ignore the trash floating; there goes a hypodermic needle, a blue plastic bag, an empty bottle of vodka and the one hundredth Choco-pie cookie packet. Little silver fish, no more than an inch long, float lifeless on their side along with the rubbish. Quang believes they have died because the water is too cold, but admits it could be the pollution. An idea that would make anyone question the fish feast that will be presented at dinner. A slow moving, flat-bed boat has a man hanging over the front, his net scooping and flipping back into the boat. Quang confirms that these are the garbage collectors, people whose job is never done. It seems inexcusable to us. Confounding. Who would throw trash into this beautiful nature? Why would people come to this natural wonderland only to deface it? Back on the big boat, it is easy for us to forget the dirt below and fall back in love with the looming limestone, the romantic orange sails of the Junk and the warm breeze on our blissfully ignorant faces.

Interesting Halong Bay Folklore & Etymology:

Local legend says that long ago when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam. After that, dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth and decided to live there. The place where Mother Dragon flew down was named Hạ Long, the place where the dragon children attended upon their mother was called Bái Tử Long island (Bái: attend upon, Tử: children, Long: dragon), and the place where the dragon children wriggled their tails violently was called Bạch Long Vỹ island (Bạch: white- colour of the foam made when Children Dragon wriggle, Long: dragon, Vỹ: tail). [Source: Wikipedia]