After an hour of downhill and uphill hiking immersed in semidarkness, we finally emerge out of the bowels of Sung Sot Grotto, or Surprise Cave, into the sunlight, greeted by a sensational surprise: an eye-popping panorama from high over Halong Bay. We pause to absorb the otherworldliness of the panorama. Countless karsts — greenery-crowned limestone islets — and a flotilla of cruise ships, trawlers, junks and sampans sprawl across the 900-plus-square-mile bay on Vietnam’s northeastern coast in the Tonkin Gulf. The fleet’s crown jewel is the Emeraude, a steamer our tour group sets sail on for an overnight expedition to this spectacular spot.
Halong Bay surely ranks among Earth’s most beautiful places: It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and voted one of Earth’s seven natural wonders by Zurich-based New7Wonders Foundation.
The drive from Hanoi through Vietnam’s tropical countryside, passing iconic Indochinese images — rice paddies, peasants wearing Southeast Asian "non la" (conical hats) and water buffaloes — takes three hours. The minibus stops at the Emeraude Cafe, where we shove off in a tender to board the historic paddle-wheeler anchored in Halong Bay. Due to its fabled past, the Emeraude, a four-deck, flat-bottomed paddle boat steamer, is an ideal vessel for adventurers embarking on this island odyssey.
The Emeraude was originated by three entrepreneurial, swashbuckling brothers who left Bordeaux, France, in 1858 to go east. The Roque brothers’ Indochina exploits are "Terry and the Pirates" stuff. As the French empire expanded, so did its enterprises, from opium to timber. In 1890 Chinese buccaneer Luu Ky kidnapped and tortured the two Roques.
By the early 20th century the Roques launched four single-wheel paddle steamers, each named after gems, delivering freight, mail and passengers at Halong and Red River Delta. The Emeraude provided electric lights, fans, refrigeration and a darkroom for photographers lured by Halong’s charms. In 1937, returning from Haiphong, the Emeraude struck an underwater rock and sank. In 1999 businessman Eric Merlin stumbled upon vintage postcards depicting the steamer at a Parisian flea market. Inspired, he tracked down Roque descendants and build an Emeraude replica in Haiphong (although today’s paddle wheel is just for show). By 2003, Merlin launched the reconstructed Emeraude, reincarnated as a cruise liner.
Our first hours at sea are spent sightseeing, voyaging amiably if not aimlessly amid this exquisite archipelago. We wend through an amazing maze of whimsically shaped islets. The cerulean seascape is so stunning and tranquil, it seems like we’re sailing across a symphonic poem composed to celebrate nature’s raptures. The weather is picture-perfect as karsts slip by one by one.
The tranquility belies the mythology and history of the region. Halong means "descending dragon"; according to mythology, Vietnam’s ancient gods dispatched jewel-spitting dragons to repel Chinese invaders. The U.S. Navy mined the bay after the disputed Gulf of Tonkin incident 50 years ago this month spurred combat between the United States and Vietnam.
Our port of call is Bo Hon, an island located roughly in Halong Bay’s center, where Sung Sot Grotto is. To enter one must trek a tree-lined path up the karst, which requires hardy footgear and the vigor to climb up and down hundreds of smoothed stony stairs. As guides lead the way through Surprise Cave, our leader notes various rock formations with a laser pointer, identifying a Buddha, monkey, bird and phallic symbol sculpted into Sung Sot’s stalactites and stalagmites.
Our tour group, sometimes slowed by a human traffic jam, walks along the cave’s polished floor and up and down its many steps for 60 minutes. One of Halong’s largest karsts, Bo Hon is a range of connected islets that also includes Dong Tien Lake, Luon Grotto and Virgin Grotto, but we didn’t glimpse them or Bon Ho’s monkeys or deer — although we saw stalactites resembling them.
Returning to the anchored Emeraude, some passengers swim, but I’m deterred by jellyfish warnings. I embark on a kayak expedition with Colm Fitzgerald, a younger, intrepid Ventura County, Calif., rock climber. We’re dispatched from the paddle-wheeler’s bow with little preparation and without a guide.
Quickly we discover our kayak’s seats aren’t properly set up, causing me some back pain. Cautiously we head for a floating fishermen’s village near a distant karst. But a chop in the water and discomfort caused by the supportless seating lead us to change course and circumnavigate our portion of Halong, careful not to crash into the karst.
Sea hawks soar overhead. Colm and I paddle together or take turns when one wants to shoot pictures. However, at an especially scenic site both shutterbugs simultaneously reach for our cameras, nearly capsizing the canoe. Six-foot-three Colm’s rapid response saves us from going overboard, sparing our Nikons.
We paddle toward a pearl farm surrounded by floats fastened to cultivated oysters, but, hampered by uncomfortable seating, we finally return to the Emeraude. There, although several crewmen sit nearby, only one bothers seizing the kayak’s prow and, with prodding, helps me safely out of the slippery craft. Nevertheless, there were moments adrift on the kayak, swaying on swells immersed in stellar scenery, when I felt a transcendental sense of serenity and connectedness to the universe.
Back aboard the Emeraude, my spacious, air-conditioned cabin, with a double bed, is quite cozy. Through large windows I can watch karsts dreamily drift by, though I prefer sunbathing on deck in a padded wicker lounge chair, cooled by sea breezes.
Emeraude dining consists of sumptuous buffets, with attentive waitresses serving beverages. Lunch and supper offer Vietnamese and European cuisines including seafood, poultry, beef and vegetables, with breakfasts of succulent tropical fruits, yogurts, cereals, croissants, bread and omelets.
Between meals, jam or chocolate crepes are cooked for passengers on the sun deck. A chef teaches passengers — including Americans, Canadians, Spaniards, Brits, locals — how to cook Vietnamese cuisine, such as shrimp spring rolls, dazzling guests by deftly sculpting tomatoes with a blade.
Shipside activities include daydreaming, stargazing, sightseeing and picture-taking, with light altering one’s perceptions. After sunset, anchored off Hang Trong or Drum Cave (so-called because of the wind’s sound blowing through it), the illumined cruise ship resembles a birthday cake ablaze with candles. Cruise-goers awake the next day to karsts that appear black and white in the early morning light. Tai chi lessons commence on the sun deck at about dawn. Good morning, Vietnam!
Our expedition ends with a morning idyll peregrinating through Halong’s islets, which now appear to be the gleaming jewels spit out by those descending dragons of lore. If one could assemble these jagged, jade jigsaw puzzle pieces, the puzzle’s picture would portray paradise. Yet, as we steam for shore, some trash floats by. Recalling crowds at Surprise Cave and sighting looming beachside high-rises, I ponder how long before Halong goes the way of other paradises lost.
