Halong Bay: A trip long awaited

Normally when I wake up early in the mornings it is always to either feed the baby or visit the toilet and I am back in the saddle within minutes, but not on 17th June as our Star Cruise Ship merrily cruised away in the South China Sea. I did wake up to put the baby off but then I decided to take a look at the sun rise from our 6X6 Balcony of our cabin.

What I saw was something my eyes had never gazed before. In lay mans language, all around the panorama were small islands, very very small islands cuddled next to each other like some hillocks merging to form a single mountain. All along the seascape as the ship moved slowly were  islands, sometimes alone, sometimes huddled in groups, mostly small but some of the bigger ones looked like mountain peaks in themselves. Emerging from the sea like majestic blocks of stones with a geography of their own.

As I tried to see how far ahead were we to hit Halong City, I could see one of these islets right next to the nose of the ship. The ship veered a bit to give the natural structure its due and kept making its way. I stood in awe of what nature was throwing at me. We were in Halong Bay.

In the midst of this splendour the sun decided to rise and show its respects. And I realised why was I made to wait five years and 2 kids to get to view this. Because I was supposed to stand in surreal silence at 6 am in the middle of the sea to witness the orange rays plunging out of from the islets and lighting up the blue waters. I decided not to scamper for my camera and first take in what I was witnessing. My eyes wanted to be the lens that wanted to capture this moment first and then capture it for the world to see. It all looked like the perfect moment from a dream where all is calm and at peace. That specific instance when the reality looks far off, you feel so close to an eternal existence and are afraid of even blinking at the cost of waking up. I am short of words and emotions and the pictures are short of a few frames. Halong Bay is that killer beauty that deserves a poets description and an expert lens-mans art.

I finally did click a few shots from my smartphone which definitely didn't do justice to the beauty that Halong Bay has. Now, for everyone who doesn't know,  Halong Bay has been on my 'must visit' list for an eternity. I have made, re-made and cancelled plans for Halong Bay on one pretext or the other every year. In 2014 when the nice man from MMTP told me the Star Cruise ship SuperStar Virgo was now plying the Hongkong-Sanya-Halong Bay-Hong Kong route after a hiatus of many years, I knew this was the vacation I wanted and we were soon jet setting.

While I know someday I will go back to Halong bay to look at the 1600 islets and also go within some of those mighty caves to look at the limestone karsts but for now I am bowing down to nature. UNESCO World Heritage Site and all is fine but nothing can go about naming or branding this natural extravaganza at its best.