If you ever visit Hanoi, I would suggest staying in the Old Quarter. My family and I were able to walk to all the cafes, shops, restaurants, and attractions. Plus, if you book a tour, the tour operators will pick you up if your hotel is located in the Old Quarter. While walking around, we stopped by a tour operator office, and my parents booked a day cruise to Ha Long Bay with Cozy Bay Cruises. Cozy Bay Cruises are a five star cruise line to Ha Long Bay, and the boat was pretty nice. Especially when you *cough* compare it to the other *cough* cruises *cough*. Even though we only booked a day cruise, there are ones that go for multiple nights as well, and there are various levels of luxury.

We were picked up by a coach bus and taken to the bay, the ride was two hours long. I wish I brought something to do, like my drawing pad or a book. There was some bottled water for us there, and our tour guide was telling us the history of Vietnam and myths and legends. We had a pretty big breakfast at our hotel, so we were pretty good and not that hungry for the time being. The hotels in Asia usually have a big breakfast included with your stay, and it’s a good thing too! They’ll most likely have both local and international delicacies, with lots of new things to try! About thrifty minutes into the long drive, we stopped for a bathroom break at a pearl farm. There were cultured pearls being “made” by people, and if you know how peals are formed then you know that they were putting little beads inside of the oysters for them to create layers around the bead until it turns into a round, smooth, and shiny pearl. They also sell jewelry there, so you can buy things. It’s quite obviously a place for tourists to take a little bit more than a “bathroom break”.

We arrived at the port where all the other dinner cruises were, and we were fed lunch. It was a nice buffet with yummy food. The selection was pretty nice. So was the view. Ha Long Bay is made up of over 1,600 tiny islands sticking out of the water. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO Heritage Site. Ha Long means “descending dragon”. But it doesn’t look like a dragon. Just rocks. Made of limestone. Check out the video below to see it!

All the cruises take the passengers to the “Surprise Cave” (Sung Sot Cave). It’s the largest cave in Ha Long Bay. There are quite a bit of stairs to climb though, so be prepared to climb. You just see a bunch of stalactites and stalagmites. Honestly, if you’ve seen one cave you’ve seen them all. Then, we headed to Luon Cave which wasn’t rEaLLy a cave, it’s like an island that has a big hole in the middle and they’ve cut to the inside so that you can kayak through the hole inside. The tour gave us a choice of a boat ride (with a driver) or to kayak by yourself where you can see monkeys living on the island. It was a bit busy and somewhat chaotic. People on the kayaks bumped to each other and some bumped into our boat. I mean, I like bumping into other people and trying to tip them over, when I’m in my 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙩. At 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥. Not when l’m dressed for a fancy dinner cruise.

Lastly, we went to Ti Top Island. Here you can swim at the beach or hike to the peak. Unfortunately, we only had an hour so we just walk around the beach, and we ate ice cream while admiring the view. I’ve found out that I love those convenience store ice creams that you get in those coolers.

Ti Top Island was the last stop on the trip, so we headed back to the port afterwards. We enjoyed the magnificent views of Ha Long Bay while sipping tea and eating local cookies on our way back to port. I don’t recommend the Durian flavoured ones. I think they taste okay but they STINK. My mum had durian flavoured ice cream, and I had to go in the other room. It was another two hours drive back to our hotel in Hanoi and I was tired. T’was a long day, but it was a beautiful and breathtaking experience that I won’t forget!

That’s all for now, bye bye!

Click Golden Bridge & Hanoi to read my other post of Vietnam.