http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Vietnam , Red River Delta , Halong Bay en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:10:48 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:10:48 +0000 We were collected early from our hotel in Hanoi for the three hour drive north to Halong Bay. Once we left the city we passed big wide fields where rice was grown all empty now as they only have one rice season a year in this area. The farmers were however burning off the stubble from the rice crops and therefore the skies were shrouded in a heavy smoke haze. We hoped that the haze wasn't going http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-458329.html spent the next hour doing a city tour picking up the other 10 people on the tour. Three hours later we boarded our lsquoluxuryrsquo boat which would take us to explore Ha Long bay. There were only 6 of of us on the our 16 berth boat which made things all the more personal with our tour guide lsquoSuanrsquo. Suan was a mine of information and we later found out she had studied tourism for 7 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-449118.html Day 3 Sunday 18th October 2009After saying goodbye to the friendly hotel folks at Hanoi we continued our voyage to Halong Bay about 3.5 hours drive from the capital. For USD95 per person we were given a night's stay on the midrange Halong Phoenix Cruiser including 4 meals on board. Fair enough even though we wished that there could at least be 2 bottles of drinking water available in each c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-447799.html After months of research McKay and I finally decided on the PINTA GOLD cruise for our Halong Bay trip... it is a hard area to researchmake a decision on and we decided after one too many horror stories that we would go with a company that had rave reviews on Trip Advisor... only to be disappointed by the whole experience... We woke up bright and early for our trip and as I lay in bed waking up I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-447744.html Oh my oh my this place is beautifulSo where did I leave off last time I wrote in this blog Oh right the night before getting into Vietnam. Well we got up fine and got on our early bus out of Phnom Penh. The bus ride was about 6 hrs and the funniest part was when we hit the border. We think they like to screw around with tourists mainly because we were the only white guys on the bus. So they http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-445766.html Halong Bay attracts approximately 90 of the tourists who come to Vietnam. It's a beautiful bay comprising 1500 square km situate on the Gulf of Tonkin Gulf on the South China Sea. Though it forms part of the ocean its waters are calm and unusually emerald. It has nearly 2000 islands. The enchanting land masse of the Bay is of limestone and dolomite and there are many grottos and caves for vi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-445103.html Boarding our minibus bright and early in the morning this time we were on the way to Halong Bay . Half way there we informed that we would no longer be sleeping on the junk as planned as there was a tropical storm on it way. We did however enjoy the whole day on the junk and slept in a nice hotel on dry land instead. Halong Bay has 1969 islands in total made of limestone of rock. None of them http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-444969.html 5109Ha Long BayThe bus turned up at 8am to take us on our 4 hour bus trip to Ha Long City. Our guide Duc picked us up and luckily Zo and I had 3 seat for the 2 of us because of my need for leg room. The journey was very interesting crossing the Red River and headed across the beautiful Vietnamese countryside via rice fields and mountains.We arrive at midday and had to wait for half hour for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-443936.html Prepare yourselves readers. This is a long one. Might want to grab a cup of tea or beverage of choice before settling in to read this one. Or make it a two part experience. I decided to publish it all as one since I tell the boat trip story start to finish. I hope you enjoy it.When I researched Vietnam everyone I spoke to said we had to go to Halong Bay. Halong Bay means descending dragon bay in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-443925.html This was the reason we decided on Vietnam in the first place Halong Bay. Breathtaking beauty is only one simple explanation of this absolutely GORGEOUS place. It is by far one of the most beautiful places we have both ever been to. It's almost as though you are dreaming being in a place this beautiful. Everywhere we would look you just wanted to stop and just breathe....PHENOMENAL The drive fr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-443557.html Majestic and mysterious is a great way to describe the impressive scenery in Halong BayWe opted for a tour to take us to this incredible place we were glad to pay a bit more for one that we got recommended. On the first day we had a four hour drive to Halong City where we boarded a boat taking us cruising through over 2000 lime stone islands. We stopped for a huge lunch including amazing fresh se http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-440680.html Wow time is flying itrsquos three weeks today since we got married and our time in Vietnam has already come to an end. It has been a whistle stop tour starting in Hoi Chi Minh City and ended in the capital Hanoi via the beautiful towns of Hoi An and Hu. Fortunately this week we have avoided long bus journeys by cheating and flying however the one bus we did catch from Hoi An to Hu ende http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-439905.html My 2009 Getaway....is a 7D6N Trip to beautiful Hanoi the oldest capital city in Southeast Asia. Up to now Hanoi has been one of the few cities in Asia left entirely void of the westernstyle boxy business architecture. Halong Bay the magnificent heritage with 2000 islands rising from the emerald water of the Gulf of Tonkin. Can't wait to relax on the boat cruise while admiring the beautiful li http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-437947.html The next day we easily withdraw money at the bank and arrive at the port to depart on our boat trip. The bay is crowded with handsome wooden ldquojunkrdquo boats at noon unloading and picking up passengers. Running in to some travellers who took the boat we should have been on we hear horror stories. Everything the businessman told them and sold them was a lie. Their trip was much shorter t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-436881.html From Hue we travelled North to Halong City the place to catch boat trips out on to the lovely Halong Bay a body of water studded with hundreds of islands and dozens of beautiful caves and karsts. When you order tea in your hotel room here you are served with a large thermos of hot water and a full china tea set featuring a teapot loaded with fifty times the amount of tea leaves we Americans are http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-436876.html WHITE DOLPHIN CRUISE 2 DAYS 1 NIGHTA newly built wooden junk featuring ten luxurious cabins furnished in classic Eastern style White Dolphin Cruise promise to give you an unforgettable trip Unique itinerary luxurious amenities friendly and informative crew. DAY 1 HALONG BAI TU LONG BAY L D 12.30 Welcome at Hon Gai Wharf. Check in White Dolphin Cruise Enjoy welcome drink.13.00 Lunch http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-434266.html Kapitel 1 Die Anreisegluecklicherweise hat uns Maria ueberredet dass es sich lohnt auch fuer nur ein paar Tage in die Halong Bay zu fahren. Und so sind wir Samstag gemeinsam von SaPa aus aufgebrochen um ans Meer zu fahren. Zug nochmal Zug Taxi Fischerboot... und schon etwa 20 Stunden spaeter waren wir auf Cat Ba. So einfach ist das manchmal. Das Boot war klasse Und wir hatten die besten P http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-432942.html Signing back in. Man I am trying to write fast to catch up with everything. I leave in a few hours on an overnight train to the China border for a 7 day motorcycle tour of NW vietnam on a Minsk. I will not have internet access for that time. These blogs take a bunch of time. I have much more respect for all the other people who have posted theirs nowOn the morning of the 2nd day in Halong http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-431276.html Well back in Hanoi I just got back from spending 3 days and 2 nights in Halong Bay. What do you say about one of the world's wonders Wow just does not seem to do it. I can now see why its a must do while in Vietnam. I rank it up there with anything I have ever seen before. Basically it all works like this. There are literally hundreds of places and people selling tours for the Bay http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-431254.html We knew before getting to Vietnam this place was absolutely breathtaking but when you actually are immersed in the beauty in all directions it is hard to put into words. Halong Bay is about 160 kilometers east of Hanoi and home to more than 2000 Dr. Seussian shaped islands. We spent three days and two nights in the bay that could possibly be voted as one of the new lsquo7 Wonders of the Natu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-430321.html