Leaving the dust from Hanoi, I decided to book a tour via GetYourGuide. It was a 3-day / 2-night tour, 1 night on a lodge in the middle of nowhere, and one night on a cruise ship at Ha Long Bay. And the itinerary got more exciting than I thought.
Day 1
Early Pickup in the Hotel in Hanoi. Not even 2 hours later, the bus reached the first location: Ninh Binh. It’s a city between mountains. The river also rises during the rainy season, making it even harder to get there. But that was why it was the capital of Vietnam in the early ages, as this location was more straightforward to protect from the outside than the open land of Hanoi. The temple visit to the ancient city of Hoa Lu was obligatory. But to be honest, nothing special. A lovely addition was that we used the bikes from the bus station to the temple. So the group had time to enjoy the sun and the stunning nature.
After a delicious lunch, we headed to a small boat tour along the Trang anś natural heritage. That was quite fun and actually also exhausting. I was sitting in a boat with 4 people, and we had one Vietnamese lady rowing for us. But she managed to cheer us to help her, so I had my afternoon workout. During the 90-minute exercise, we saw stunning nature.
From here, the whole caravan went to Hang Mua. A breathtaking panorama over the limestone mountains and the rice fields of the valley has been the reward for walking up a couple of hundred stairs. And if you read my other blog posts, you know I love walking stairs and hiking. But after 5 months of traveling, my body is asking for some rest… But nevertheless, I suffered in silence and went up 🙂
At this point, the group got divided into people heading back to Hanoi and others staying in Ninh Binh. Being part of group two, I was in a lovely eco-lodge 10 minutes later and had the chance to rest, have a shower, have dinner, and the one or the other “Singapore Sling” 🙂
Day 2
After breakfast on Day 2, a bus picked up the leftovers from the first day to head to Ha Long Bay. Excitement was palpable on the bus as a cruise ship was waiting for us, just us! A cruise ship! Sounds unique and a “once in a lifetime”-thing… almost 4 hours later, the reality kicked in. Ha Long Bay is FULL of cruise ships. It looks like a boat exhibition. We could see all sizes, colors, and ages in the boats. So we started to be scared of what might be ours?
After 20 minutes, boat after boat, yacht after yacht, wreck after wreck, the shuttle reached the final destination. And surprise, our boat was not there… we had to get on a small boat to get to the real one…. At this point, other tourist groups also joined, and I found out while talking to them that some are on a one-day trip like I am, and others on two days… How should this work if we are on the same boat? Anyway, 20 minutes on the small ship, the group reached the boat… At least it did not look like one from the 60s and could float without external help 🙂
The first surprise was the lunch on the boat- it was a feast! I couldn’t wait for dinner. After that, everyone got their cabin- the next surprise… I loved it! Now I was disappointed that it was only one night.
This was also the first time I could enjoy the beauty of Ha Long Bay. It’s stunning nature, even if the weather is not perfect. But with some fog around it, it also creates mystery.
While we ate, rested, and checked the facilities, the boat moved to our first stop: a kayak tour of some caves in Ha Long Bay. This time, Vietnamese locals did not help us… It was all on us… Again, stunning nature…
But one thing already turned out to be horrible: the water… It seems not that clean… The reason became obvious later: people living on the water (i.e., local fishers) are throwing everything into the water….
Back on the boat, everyone got the opportunity to swim in that water…. Due to the water quality, I was not really into that… But anyway, a glass of wine and a good book made my afternoon good, and at 5 pm, the happy hour started… So, enough to do 🙂
In the meantime, we figured out that the boat was not moving anymore, and that was the final stop…. We were also joined by a lot of other cruise ships. It turned out that this bay we are currently in is the farthest point for a one- or two-day cruise for many boats… Checking the others, I was at least satisfied that I somehow got one of the better ones… Only a “Russian oligarch”-like yacht was stealing our show.
The dinner was pretty good, starting with a “glowing pineapple” and some other good dishes; we all deserved more drinks.
After dinner, the party on the deck started… A lot of drinks later, I went to bed and had a fantastic night on the ship… actually, my first night on a cruise ship…
Day 3
I woke up with a fantastic view of the waterfront… I could have that more often!
This day is short to explain: after a good breakfast, we were transported back to the harbor, back to a bus, and back to Hanoi. As I had an immediate flight to my next destination, I was dropped at the airport instead of Hanoi City. Amazing days are over, and I was excited about what’s next…
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