Halong Bay

While in Hanoi, I was staying at the Hanoi Youth Hostel. It is nowhere near as nice as the hostel that I had in Ho Chi Minh, but it was only $5.00. While at the hostel, I met sweet Ilona from the Netherlands. We both wanted to go on a Halong Bay Tour and together we decided to try and figure out the best tour. It can be a bit challenging because everyone lies to you and shows you glossy pictures of beautiful boats with gorgeous sundecks. Whoever sells you the tour, also gets commission. We read a couple reviews and talked to a couple different tour agencies. There are many agencies offering tours, rentals, trekking, etc…all over the city. We were told that the cheapest tours are not that great, but we decided to go ahead with it anyway. We figured if it was a matter of a nicer boat, we would rather save the money.

Our $50.00 trip included a roundtrip bus ride from Hanoi to Halong city (about 3.5 hours each way). It also included all meals, sleeping accommodations and a short kayak trip. Our bus ride to Halong City was super packed and uncomfortable. It was not really a bus but instead a van. The trip started with Ilona and I getting picked up from our guesthouse by our guide yelling at us to “hurry up”. When we got to the van it was already so overcrowded with people and bags and I kept hitting people with my bag by accident. I sat in the middle of the van on a makeshift seat. I could not lean back because there was an extremely large woman behind me and I did not want to squash her legs the entire time.

Once we got to Halong City we stood around for about 45 minutes while we waited for our boat to get there. During this time, we also got yelled at a lot by our guide. He would yell if he wanted us to move or not move, or sign a piece of paper, or give him a ticket…Once the boat finally got there were ushered onto it and told to eat lunch. The lunch was pretty nice and included a lot of food that I can eat (I am a vegetarian but I eat seafood). No beverages were included (including water) but we were warned about that and Ilona and I brought our own water and a small bottle of vodka.

The boat was very crowded because all the “day” people were on it as well as the people spending the night. Once the day people got off, the trip got a lot more relaxing.

We were able to swim and Kayak but only for 15 minutes. Our tour guide was very stressed out and stuck to very strict rules! But Ilona and I won him over and he started to chill out after a while. He professed his love to us, the english language, and all people, places and things that have to do with the USA.

Our cabin was very nice! Ilona and I were able to share a room with a private bathroom and locking door. We each had our own bed too!

In the morning after we had breakfast, we cruised for a while and I sprinkled some of my Dad’s ashes in the water.

All in all the trip was amazing! There were some chaotic parts but you just had to go with the flow. I am glad I saved $50.00 and went with the cheaper cruise.