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Published: June 26th 2007
We left for Ha Long Bay in the morning by Minibus, where the drive was about 3 hours. The entire trip was a package offered by the Backpackers Hostel from a company called South Pacific (we believe). We stopped once for a break at a souviener shop where a MILLION tourists were (as the minivans all stopped here for a "break"... ie stand here long enough and they just may buy something :-) )
We arrived to our docked boat and were amazed at the quality!! We had opted for a middle range package as there is the lower range ($30 - $40), middle range ($55-75) and higher range (out of our budget :-)) Amoung the numerous boats in the bay and we landed the brand new one that normally is in the higher range! Anyways... we started with lunch which was composed of many, many, many dishes of seafood and other delights. Afterwards, we went to a cave which was enourmous inside and got a bit of a lesson about about the formations. Afterwards, we went kayaking and swimming. The water was freakishly warm and we both jumped in the ocean from the top of the boat (Lorin
Trung....our host on the cruise
this guy was too much...had to include his pic.much more than me!).
Ha Long Bay has seen a lot of development. It is a UNESCO world heritage sight and when you get there you can see why. There are gigantic limestone formations jutting from the waters. Within these formations, there are scattered islands and caves which are great to explore if you have the time.
We lucked out by meeting these four travels on a short holiday from Malaysia. They were tremendous fun, had great conversation, and could even keep up with the "Lorin Party." As most of you know, Lorin loves to party.... Seriously, after spending two days with these cool peoples, we hope to make it to Malaysia to visit them sooner than later :-).
We had another amazingly huge dinner filled with seafood, a night filled with Lorin karayoking, and even slept on the boat that night which was airconditioned and spectacular with all the wood and tile. The next morning we crusied the harbor. After lunch we headed back to Hanoi via minibus for an overnight train to Sapa, Vietnam.
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Gil
non-member comment
junk boat fun and a coupla tips for Sapa
Looks like y'all did it up right in Hanoi and Halong Bay--no mention of Pho Zao though, hope you tried it while in Hanoi! I certainly remember the post-seafood-gorging-afternoon-comatose-spell. For Sapa: snag a scooter and drive past the Thac Bac (silver waterfalls) and then over the Dinh Deo Pass--beautiful drive w/ superduper views! Also--Camillia restaurant near the market was really good in 2002, will it be so today? You be the judge! Keep on truckin' you guys!