Hanoi 2013 Day 2 – Halong Bay Cruise

Woke up really early as we were embarking on a trip to Halong Bay. We have packed our day bags to bring along to the cruise and leaving the main luggage with the hotel since we would be returning to the same hotel after returning from Halong Bay. Ate the breakfast at the 10th floor known as the panorama restaurant. It had an alfresco option where you could get to eat on the balcony for a full city view. When we arrived at the hotel there were many people already there and there were hardly any seats. And they were severely short handed as tables took some time to be cleared. The variety was pretty limited but we could order noodle soup.

After breakfast and check out, we waited at the lobby for the Alova Gold cruise bus to pick us up. It was about 830am that it finally arrived. It was a mini bus that already had 7 people on board. Then it was a long drive to the harbour at Halong Bay, some 4hrs away. The guide gave a short intro on Hanoi and Halong Bay, explaining the origins of the name and that Hanoi was the rising dragon and Halong bay being the descending dragon and even gone on to explain about the differences between the western dragons and the Vietnamese dragon which was kinda funny. Then it was snooze time to the rest stop which was a store selling some local produced goods, some of which was made by the local disabled community. It was a tad bit expensive though. After using the restroom, boarded the bus and continued towards the harbour.

Another 2 hrs later and we arrived at the harbour. The guide went to purchase tickets and we were brought to board the small boats that ferry us to the cruise which was anchored further out at sea. After transferring from the small boat to the small cruise, there was a short briefing together with a welcome drink and then checking in our rooms. Since it was a small vessel, the rooms were also small but adequate. There were some restrictions on the usage of hot water and air con (only available at certain times). After awhile, we met on the small eating place for our lunch, which was pretty good compared to what we had previously the night before, all that time the ferry made its way into the bay.

Before long we were already busy snapping photos as we passed the various peaks protruding from the water. The weather was amazingly good and different from what we had in Hanoi and thus the photos really turned out stunning.

Spent quite bit of time on the top most deck to take photos until it was almost time to disembark to small boats that brought us to the shore of Tiptop island. Once there, another round of instructions, and then we had to climb some 400plus steps. It was a tiring climb but somewhere at 150 something steps, there was a view deck for people to rest and admire the view at an elevation not seen at the cruise level. We continued all the way to the top most shelter where the view was awesome! There were many people there admiring the view and taking photos so it was a challenge to find the time and good spot and then take a good shot.

We went back down to a sheltered area where both my mom and aunt was sitting as apparently they didn’t make it up to even the half point view deck and was too tired and so sat there waiting for our return. After a while more, we went down to the beach and took more shots before heading back the harbour, up the transfer boat and back up the ferry.

The next activity was kayaking and only I participated since my family members didn’t know how to kayak. Went off with the tour guide and some other cruise members towards a hole in the bottom of the mountain of a rock and pass under it. We then arrived at an enclosed area surrounded by these tall rocks. There was a family of monkeys, wondered how on earth did they end up there in the middle of no where. Kayak a bit before going back the same way to the ferry. It was really tiring even though there wasn’t much of a current. Probably was just my lack of skill. It was already sunset and as hard as I tried to kayak back to the ferry to take photos, I knew I was far from doing so and then I just shot from my kayak.

Upon returning, went up to the top deck and joined my wife as she was just chilling, listening to mp3 and reading a book, admiring the sunset. We laid on the deck seats for a while before going back to take a bath. After that, we were informed about the cooking class and arrived late though we didn’t really missed much. They were just learning how to roll a paper spring roll which we knew how from the first day at lunch. Soon after the spring roll rolling and eating, dinner was served. This time round there were about 8 dishes and were still kinda full from the spring rolls and happy hour drinks that we had. After a long dinner, the crew prepared a special surprise and brought out a birthday cake and together with the remaining guests at the dinning area (although the guide tried to get more guests to the dinning area to celebrate with us). Sang a birthday song, made a wish, blew the candles and cut and split the cakes.

After the desert, we ordered some drinks and I had a Saigon beer in the cool winds of the evening before retiring to the cabin for a good nights’ rest.