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Published: December 26th 2006
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Well we booked a great Halong Bay tour. Usually we are against booking organized tours but this time was an exception. It is quite difficult to do on your own and the tours are great value. We spent $65 for a three day tour including all entrance fees, guides, transport, food, kayaking and accomadation. We booked it through a tour company called Fansipan or VEGA travel which I would highly recommend. We heard about so many bad experiences on the Halong Bay tours from people who paid the minimum amount needed. We decided to buy a midrange tour to try and avoid all those problems and we succeeded. Our tour was great. The best part was there was only 4 of us on a huge boat that was built for 12. It was just a British couple and us! We were so worried that we were going to be stuck with a group of chinese tourists or old people but luckily we had great company.
We departed Hanoi for Halong city at about 8am. It was a 3 hour drive by minibus to Halong City. After we got to Halong city we boarded our Junk. Junk is what they call
these types of boats. It was really nice. It was 3 levels. The top level was a huge sundeck with lounge chairs. The middle section was like a lounge and kitchen area and the bottom was where all the rooms were. We all had our own private rooms with hot water showers and bathroom. The rooms on this boat were nicer than alot of our hotel rooms. After getting settled into our boat we set sail out to halong bay. It was a beautiful trip. The whole bay was dotted with about 3000 limestone islands that were just sticking up all throughout the ocean.
During the first day we went to see a cave called the 'suprising cave'. It was probably one of the biggest caves we have seen the whole trip but wasnt really too suprising..lol. We then went to a place called ti top mountain. It was an island with a temple on the top that we had to walk up 800 stairs to get to. Once we were at the top you could see a beautiful view of all the surrounding islands. After that we went kayaking through the bay into a bunch of caves that
Merry Xmas!
Our hotel on Cat Ba island led to more shetlered areas. The beauty of this place is as hard to describe as Sapa was. During the second day we basically did the same thing cruised around the Bays, went for a trek through Cat Ba National Park and did some more Kayaking.
We only stayed on the boat for one night and then we stayed on Cat Ba island for the second night. Cat Ba island was a good start to our Christmas. We stayed in the nicest hotel on the island. During our night on the island we went for a great seafood dinner with our group and found some beer Hoi. Beer Hoi is the cheapest beer in the world that only costs 10 cents a glass. we were set on finding some on Cat Ba island so we asked a bunch of restaurant if they had any. Finally one said they did and they kept running up the street to get litres and litres of the draught beer. It was quite amusing. We got the restaurant filled with so many tourists and drank beer. Its the cheapest and funnest way to drink in Vietnam. On the morning of Christmas eve at our
hotel we had a great buffet breakfast for Christmas. It put my xmas spirits up a bit higher than they were. I was really missing home and it wasnt feeling at all like Christmas until the 24th. After our breakfast we set out for our return trip home to Hanoi.
When we returned to Hanoi we checked in to our Christmas hotel. It is the nicest one we have had yet on the trip. It even has a computer in the room and really nice lights that make is feel more cozy and christmas like. After we got checked in we were given an invitation to a Christmas party at our hotel. we didnt expect too much out of it but it was great times. They had endless amounts of red wine, vodka, food and desserts. We all started drinknig and dancing and singing christmas carols. We had to leave at about 1030 because they kept making us drink. Every time our cup was empty it was filled up again and again..thank god everything was free. There were even 4 Santa's at our Christmas party. Santa here rides around on a motorbike instead of a sled. After the Christmas
party died down we headed to the church for midnight mass. The streets were so packed with motorbikes and people. It was more chaotic than the fireworks in Vancouver. On Christmas Day we went for a really nice dinner at a 5 star hotel. It was the only place that served turkey and western type food to make us feel more at home. It was $20 for a huge buffet and all the wine and beer that you could drink. Definatly was a great way to spend our evening. It was definatly a good experience to celebrate Christmas in another country but I dont think I can do it again. Anyways hope everyone had a great Christmas. You should email me and let me know how everything went..We are in Hanoi for a couple more days and then we fly to southern thailand for new years and a full moon party then off to india...merry christmas everyone!!
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Jen
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Merry Christmas!
Hey guys! I love reading your journals! It looks amazing there! Hope you have a great holiday and new year!! Miss you Jazzy :) Love your cuz, Jen