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What is a World Heritage Site?

There isnt much to say about Ha Long Bay. that rhymed, however (very worthy of note). our book and previously Vietnam traveled friends recommended it saying that its beauty is unparalleled and it was a World Heritage Site. we dont know what a World Heritage Site is but the name sounded prestigious so we figured it would be worth a view. it ended up being not all that great.

we took a speed boat across the channel and unloaded onto the docks into a swarm of hotel offers. this was apparently the low season or at least, a pretty bad week. we were surrounded and hounded and accosted and overwhelmed. one person would greet us and hand us a business card and sort of tug on us to follow him while another would do the same thing and tug in the other direction. we decided it was best just to keep moving. but of course three or four of them followed us so that we sort of had an enterouge walking to town. when it came time to pick one to go into, the people renewed their efforts to sell us on their hotels. we started speaking Spanish, our secret language when we dont want people to know what we're thinking, and then just went into one of the hotels while promising the others that if we didnt like it, we would come see theirs. this seemed to appease them.

the room was fine so we booked it but then decided to lay low for a while to avoid the madness outside. we napped and then woke up to eat while it started to rain. we talked to a friendly man named Thung who helped us book a tour of the Bay the next morning as well as our trip back to the mainland and our bus tickets all the way down to Saigon. that night when we went out to eat dinner, we were walking along and heard the commonly used phrase, "hey! you want motobike?" and when we turned to turn them down, we saw it was Thung playing a trick on us. Hahahaha. dinner was ok.

in the morning, we got on a boat with a few other people and set out into the Bay. the day was overcast but cool so the trip wasnt perfect but not all that bad. the whole time our boat never topped 5 mph so it was also kind of relaxing. we passed floating villages and fishing canoes, we saw massive mountains and 40 m rocks supported by a thin strip at the bottom. it was beautiful and unique, but very repetitive and slow. the whole trip couldve been over in an hour but then what would you be paying for. we had the option to snorkel but the water was much too cold so we settled for a short trip to Monkey Island. now, david and i have had seperate dreams about a place like this, and before now, had thought it to be only that, a dream. but when we saw the name in our book and researched the possibility of visiting it, maybe even meeting the King Monkey, we knew we had to make the trip. and, as par for the course of the days events, it was disappointing. we were only permitted to be on a thin strip of beach that wasnt at all beachlike. but there were monkeys. there was a sign that instructed us not to feed or tease the monkeys because they might bite you. but then next to the sign, was a counter where you could purchase fruit to feed to the monkeys. smooth, vietnam. the monkeys were cute and eventually, ill get some pictures up. some of the monkeys were quite aggressive and would chase the picture taking tourists or climb up their bodies to get at a plastic bag. some of the monkeys had to be chased by the park officials who thought that it was pretty funny. some of those same officials also thought it was funny to pick up cigarette butts and throw them at the monkeys.

after the island it was time to go back and we passed the same things we had seen on the way out. one thing i noticed was that there was a lot of trash floating about the water. for all its natural beauty, the locals sure seemed to do their part to detract from it. perhaps all the garbage was from tourist boats but that just seems unlikely and too minimal of an impact. it was everywhere.

so we got back and there wasnt much to do. this place seemed like it was really busy during the high season, and a ghost town otherwise. we returned to the mainland in the morning and took a bus all the way to Hanoi where we discovered that the open bus ticket that our friend Thung had sold us was about $20 over the going rate. it had seemed cheap to us, $43 to go all the way from Hanoi to Saigon, stopping when and where you wanted, and being picked up the same way. but it was not the deal he promised. we were fooled by his friendliness. dont trust the Thungs.

so should you go see Ha Long Bay? probably, but only for a day.

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