If you follow our Insta, and you should be following our Insta (@bonvoyagebigadventure), you know that we had way too much fun with the Halong Bay jokes.
Amanda: Rich, we sure our a Halong way from home…
Rich: It’s going to be a Halong trip if you keep telling jokes like that!
Halong Bay, Vietnam is BEAUTIFUL, and we mostly enjoyed our trip– more on that below– and really enjoyed our time in Hue.
Days 60-61: Our Halong Bay Cruise and a Monster Attacks
Halong Bay, Vietnam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with immense beauty and small fishing villages where, until recently, for multiple generations the people have lived their lives almost exclusively on the water.
Based on all of the research conducted by our expert trip planner (Rich), we concluded that the best way to see the Halong Bay was on an overnight cruise. After even more research, Rich selected the Bhaya Cruise Line for our cruise operator.
The Itinerary
Day 1:
- The cruise company picks you up directly from where you are staying in Hanoi. You take about a four hour van ride to Halong Bay.
- You are greeted with a welcome drink, board the ship, and receive a safety briefing while you eat lunch and the ship sets sail.
- You cruise until you reach a fishing village, at which point you spend about an hour kayaking in and around the village.
- You return to the boat and enter “safe” waters to enjoy a swim.
- Then there is happy hour with half priced drinks and a cooking demonstration.
- Then you enjoy a bbq dinner on the top deck of the ship, and there are optional evening activities (a movie, night fishing) after dinner.
Day 2:
- There is optional sunrise Tai Chi, followed by a continental breakfast.
- You travel to a cave to explore.
- You cruise back to the bay and enjoy brunch.
- You disembark, and the van drives the four hours back to Hanoi.
The Good
For the first several hours of the cruise, we were loving life. Navigating Hanoi had been a lot, and now we had a beautiful cabin to stay in and delicious food to eat, and we had to do zero work to obtain food and be surrounded in comfort. We could sit back and enjoy a little luxury!
And, of course, Halong Bay is breathtakingly beautiful with some of the most amazing vistas in the entire world. Watching the sunrise from our cabin was spectacular. We also sat for about 30 minutes on our private balcony overlooking the bay while the boat was cruising and we had returned from kayaking, which was heaven.
The Bad/Meh
Visiting the fishing village felt a little invasive, and honestly distasteful, to me. We were a group of people wealthy enough to afford a cruise paddling around a neighborhood mouths agape trying not to say things like, “I can’t believe these are people’s homes.” (Read more nuanced research on the positive and negative effects of “slum tourism” here.)
You could say that we were looking at the beautiful, brightly colored houses, but I think that would be disingenuous. Had I lived in those homes, I would not want people paddling around looking at me, remarking upon the way my community lives. The original cruise we booked had us paddle through a cave, and then we received an email that we had received an “upgrade” on our cruise the day before. I would have preferred to paddle through the cave.
Instead, we did a walking tour of a cave which was also super meh. We were not exploring, we were walking about 100 yards total around in a circle. Had we known more what to expect, we would have enjoyed sitting for a few more minutes together on our private balcony.
The Ugly
I got stung by a jelly fish. Or maybe by seven jellyfish. I had stings all over my body.
The staff made a big deal about docking in a spot with water that was “safe” to swim in, and I was actually the one pressuring Rich to jump in this time. We were two of the first people in the water, and then a young guy jumped in a minute or two later, and it was clear something happened to him in the water. We were remarking on what it might be, when I felt like I had been electrocuted– pain shot through my body like electricity.
“Something got me,” I said. “I have to get out now.”
Rich, who was wonderful while the attack was happening and for the entire time after, later conceded that his first thought was hoping I was okay and his second was to get himself out of the water before whatever it was came for him.
As soon as I was back on the boat, my skin turned prickly red and white bumps and welts appeared. And it hurt. I was really trying to be brave because, I mean, we are around the world adventurers (ha!), but it was scary and it hurt. In retrospect, I can’t believe I didn’t cry. Or that Rich didn’t cry either! I was a wreck, and gore/medical emergencies are not his favorite.
One of the staff members on the ship poured vinegar on me. Another started rubbing limes on my welts. One said not to shower, the other said shower immediately. We went back to the room where first I took a cold shower and then Rich read to take a hot shower and the we rubbed every medication in the First Aid kit all over my body. Rich was as calm and cool as a cucumber.
My frustration with the situation was that a.) I was the most uncomfortable I have been in years and b.) if they told us there was a chance of there being attacked by a jellyfish (but probably 7 jellyfish) I would have opted out! I got stung as a kid so I had done this before. It hurts!
Based on the staff’s quick response, it clearly had happened before. Another guest told me at breakfast the next day that they had participated in a night fishing activity and seen about 20 jellyfish in a five minute period! Come on!
So the Halong Bay cruise was not my favorite. We attempted to do the fanciest, most luxurious thing of the whole trip, and I ended up having the worst experience! I preferred eating hot dogs and camping in Iceland! Go figure. You live, you learn.
Day 62: Hue, Vietnam
After we disembarked from the boat, we had a six hour ride back to Hanoi, then we took a super easy bus back to the Hanoi airport, and then we flew to Hue, Vietnam. We got to our AirBNB at about 10:00 PM, which was actually a room in an adorable boutique hotel.
We sat next to a gentleman on our flight who had also been on our cruise and talked travel and life the entire flight (not like us– we are way too introverted to enjoy talking to strangers). He, his wife, and his teenage daughters live in Lisbon, Portugal, but he and his wife had lived in New York working in investment banking in the 90’s. We really enjoyed exchanging travel stories, and they were incredibly encouraging when we told them about our trip.
The gentleman also shared that despite owning his own investment banking company in Portugal, the most important thing he does every day is to make it home in time to have dinner with his wife and daughters. The family was really wonderful, and it was our pleasure to have met them.
Exploring Hue
After being on a boat for several days, it was nice to stretch our legs a bit. We walked about 30 minutes to the Imperial Palace, a complex filled with beautiful buildings from when Hue had been the capital of Vietnam.
We then walked another hour to visit the Thien Mu Pagoda, or the Pagoda of the Celestial Lady, an ancient temple overlooking the river. Most tourists do not walk quite this far–opting to take inexpensive tuk tuks instead– so we got curious looks both on the way there and on the way back!
We returned back to the hotel where we took advantage of the hotel jacuzzi and fell asleep in hammock chairs (I know, rough life!).
For dinner, we ate at one of our favorite restaurants of the entire trip: Nook Cafe and Bar. I had a delicious veggie curry and Rich ate honey fried chicken with coconut sticky rice. Yum!
Hue was super hip, and I think we both could have happily stayed longer, enjoying being in a Vietnamese city that is a bit more modern with a slower pace than Hanoi. If you are planning a trip to Vietnam, we would definitely encourage you to add Hue to your list.