During Deepavali break in 2012, I and my husband decided to go to Halong Bay for a long weekend get away. Both of us have been in Vietnam many times prior to this trip but it was for business, and we hardly had a chance to explore the city or area. Initially, we wanted to go to Sapa, located in the Northwest Vietnam, famous for its culture and highland. Unfortunately, the train schedule didn't really match with ours, so we decided to go join Emeraude Cruise instead. I had a totally different experience coming to Hanoi as a tourist than being there for work. Being a tourist, I saw everything brand new with open mind, and I got to appreciate the Vietnamese lifestyle and people better. Even the lake that I hardly paid much attention before
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