Our Trip
In December of 2009, from Hanoi, Vietnam, all four of us along with five other people piled into a van for a three and a half hour drive to Halong Bay where we would spend the night on a junk boat cruising Bai Tu Long Bay seeing the over one thousand karsts and the many islands in the bay. While driving to the bay, I was really glad the kids had their itouches and I had my book. Sean and Sophie watched videos and played games while Scott slept and I read. Doesn’t get better than that! It’s a long boring drive but worth every minute once you get there.When we arrived, much to our surprise, we were taken to a luxurious junk boat called the Red Dragon. We were all thinking we’d have to rough it for the night and were quite surprised at how comfortable and extravagant it was.
Between the four of us, we had two cabins with each having an in-suite bathroom and comfortable beds. The boat itself has a total of 5 cabins. We were served 3 amazing meals each day on white table clothes and elegant dinnerware.
During our downtime it was great hanging out on deck in the lounge chairs looking at the beautiful scenery.
During our one night two day cruise, we visited a floating fishing village and a cave, went kayaking and attended a big Christmas Eve party on the beach. According to our guide, the cave was originally the home of the people from the fishing village. The government helped them move from the cave to the fishing village. This brought in more tourists and therefore more money for the villagers.Fun Facts &Tips
Located in northern Vietnam and voted two times as a UNESCO World Heritage Site these islands or karts (limestone peaks) are as magnificent as they are historical.
There are over 1600 islands and many stories that have been told for generations explaining such a phenomenon that all seem to include dragons. Halong translates to “the dragons descending into the sea”.
The downside to this experience is that there are alot of tourist. A lot of boats like ours and parties on the beaches. It’s important to remember that the rare beauty found there cannot exist forever when foreigners are taking parts of the caves home with them or buying souvenirs that take from the environment. Something to think about if you go.
Our boat was arranged through our hotel and it all went very smoothly. The food served is mostly seafood so if you have picky eaters, you may want to bring along some snacks. I embraced the idea that would force Sean and Sophie to try different foods. I think they even surprised themselves. Although once Sophie found out she was enjoying squid she decided it wasn’t that tasty after all.
The Vung Vieng fishing village currently inhabits over 200 people.
The boat never went that fast so no need to worry about sea sickness. On cruises, I usually feel very queasy the first couple days. I felt fine on this trip.
Welcome to Halong Bay, Vietnam
Our Junk Boat.
Thien Canh Son Cave
Vung Vieng fishing village.
The Christmas party was hysterical and I was very sorry I didn’t bring my camera for that one! The staff was really excited about the party as they went out of their way to keep it a secret from us. When we got to the beach Santa Clause sailed in on his boat bringing presents for everyone. They had a decorated a huge Christmas tree with a gigantic star at the top that was half the size of the tree. They had about 4 “disco version” Christmas songs that they looped all night. The whole experience was kind of surreal as they tried very hard to embrace the Christmas spirit but it was just a little off. We had lots of seafood for dinner and by the end of the night the bartenders had drank all the booze and were toasted. It was hilarious and a great experience.
See Photo Album.