Ha Long Bay Days 1 & 2

I took a morning bus from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay yesterday. I booked the tour from the place I am staying. This way, the bus picks my up and drops me off close to where I stay. This avoids searching for the bus depot and getting lost along the way.

The ride to Ha Long Bay was a little over 3 hours in a nice comfortable tour bus. We made our way out of the citie and into less densely populated areas. Passing so many rice fields as well as occasional vegetable gardens.

We did make a rest stop about half way to Ha Long Bay. The rest stop was partially staffed with disabled individuals. Very large store with lots of tourist items, food, snacks and handicrafts for sale. I took the opportunity to enjoy my first Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Delicious.

There were several crafters knitting intricate artworks. Fastinating.

Arriving at Ha Long Bay, there are so many boats all shapes and sizes. From the smallest that are used for day trips, to the medium size with sleeping accomodations to spend one or more nights out in the bay, to the large luxury yachts, think billionaire sized yachts. At the harbor we had to wait for a tender to take us out to our boat. An older boat, but with a lot of character.

Once on board even be stowing our bags in out rooms we were treated with a delicious lunch of local foods. Before we even finished our lunch we were underway deeper into Ha Long Bay.

Our first activity on the bay was to take the tender to explore the Sung Sot cave. This excursion required walking about 1.5 km and up about 100 steps to the cave entrance. I chose not to go. I didn't think my knee was quit up to it yet. My lose, this is what I would have seen. I instead enjoyed so serene time on the boat admiring the view of the bay and islands.

After the cave everyone returned to the boat. The next activity was a mini cooking class where we each tried our had at making summer rolls.  The one I made wasn't the prettiest, but it still tasted good.

After our cooking class, it was then time for Happy Hour. Buy 2 get 1free. I like the buy 1 get 1 free better. 3 drinks is a bit too much for me, but I managed to do it. I had a Mojito, followed by a Margarita, the topped off with a 2nd Mojito that I finished during dinner that started about 6:45.

Another great meal with new traveller friends. People at my table for the evening were from the Philippines, New Zealand, Netherlands and the USA. 

The dinner included 3 dishes that came with carved vegetables. One with carrot, one with a tomato and the 3rd with cucumber. Totally unexpected but they made the dinner even more special.

I retired early just to rest up a bit with a plan to return later for Karioke. My planned short nap turned into sleeping all night. I missed Karioke.

Breakfast was a 7 the next morning. Because I went to sleep early, I was awake early. I took this opportunity to shower. I knew the day was packed with activities so there would be no time later.

Breakfast was a buffet that included: fried eggs, fried rice, noodles, bacon, coffee, tea and various fruits.

After breakfast we were instructed to go back to our rooms, pack our bags and move them into the hallway and get ready for our first morning activity. This is a well choreographed operation. The staff then starts cleaning and prepping the rooms for the next cruisers to board when we get back to port. The bus that brings the next cruisers will be the bus we take back to Hanoi.

Activities. The first activity was at another bay. Here we had the option to do kayaking or ride in what they referred to a a bamboo boat. In actuality it was a flat bottom boat that held about 12 people made of fiberglass and aluminum. Each boat had a stand up paddler as our propulsion. Very slow pace, very relaxing.

All the kayaks and boats passed through a natural rock cave opening into a protected lagoon. Here we not only took in the beauty of the rock formations, but also were entertained by a group of monkeys coming to greet the boats and enjoy the bananas that many brought with them to treat the monkeys.

After the kayaking and bamboo boats we returned to our boat and proceeded to our final activity. The beach.

People could swim, play beach volley ball or just meander. Yes refreshments and souveniers, like all stops, were available for purchase.

Finished at the beach, we went back to the boat for the hour plus journey back to the harbor to disimbark and catch our bus back to Hanoi