Nicci and Ricks Vietnam Adventures

Thursday & Friday - 19 & 20 April 2013 - Ha Long Bay

Well what can I say other than we have just had the best 2 days of our trip in Vietnam and I don't think anything else can beat it. We were up early yesterday to do the 4 hour bus ride to Ha Long Bay to join our 2 day 1 night cruise. It was a bit of a long, slow drive as the roads to Ha Long are pretty shitty and when we arrived at the boat terminal it was utter chaos with so many tourist there to join their cruises and it was mayhem and a lot of waiting around. Finally we caught the tender out to the cruise boat we were going on and arrived on the vessel at 1pm. We were on the V Spirit cruise which was a medium size junk which holds 26 passengers, a very nice well laid out boat. We were given a general run down on the activities over the 2 days and where we would be visiting and then it was check in to our cabin. Have to say it was a lovely cabin with double bed, great view out of our window and small but well laid out en suite bathroom. Very comfortable. We then had a five course lunch as the boat sailed through Ha Long Bay. I have to say it is the most stunning and beautiful place we have been to so far in all our years of travelling. The boat anchored and we caught the tender to a pontoon where we got on a large row boat and went through a cave (some of the guests kayaked) and we took the lazy way. It was amazing. We then joined the boat again and sailed further into Ha Long Bay and stopped at a beach right on sunset and walked a million (not quite) steps up the mountain which had the most spectacular views of the bay, and then had a paddle in the water of the small beach. Back to the boat and time for dinner, another 5 course meal. Rick and I spent most of the time on the top deck laying around on the outdoor lounges along with some of the other guests and just took in the spectacular night scenes of all the different cruise boats anchored.

Had a great nights sleep in our comfy cabin and I was awake early so headed off up to the top deck for a ciggy, the water was like glass it was so peaceful and calm. Had a great shower and then off to breaky, another 5 course meal. The food on the cruise was of course Vietnamese & very tasty, I am certainly liking the food here especially the freshness of it and I love having my Pho soup for breaky everyday. Rick and I relaxed on the top deck for the morning after breakfast while some of the guests went off exploring another cave, we were happy just to relax and take in the awesomeness of where we were. Once all the guests were back from their exploring the boat set sail again and we all joined in on a cooking class where the boats chef taught us all how to make fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. Wow, they were a lot better than the ones I have been making at home and love the dipping sauce which I will find a recipe for. We packed up our cabins and it was lunchtime and another 5 course banquet, seemed all we did was eat. Time just went so quick that one meal time seemed to roll straight on to the next. We sailed back into the harbour and anchored and the tender took us all back to the boat terminal which again was absolute chaos. We waited for about an hour for our bus to arrive and hit the road for the long 4 hour drive back to Ha Noi.

We finally arrived back at the hotel around 5.15pm and just in time to watch Geelong cats beat Sydney swans on the Australia channel. Footy over we headed out to KFC for a quick dinner and then back to the guesthouse. We are only here for the night and tomorrow sadly leave Ha Noi for good. We check out at 9am and then we are on the train for a 2 hour journey to Nimh Binh where we will spend the next 3 days, then onto Hue which is a 12 hour overnight train trip. This is the start of our travels south heading toward Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Have put heaps of photos of Ha Long Bay on todays blog, it is simply beautiful and a must for anyone's travel bucket list. Good night everyone!

On the tender going out to join the cruise boat