Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site so in my short time there I thought it made sense to experience it, and honestly it was spectacular. I also wanted to experience a cruise, after hearing so much about them from my friend Maria.
Given that it’s the main thing to do in Ha Long, there are a lot of different options. I went with Carnival Cruises – felt it had the best selection of activities, I jacuzzi (which I love), and it started a little bit later, so I had some buffer time after the half marathon.
Cruise
The cruise started at 10:30am sharp. I arrived at 10:29, due to a taxi mix-up. So started with a bit of stress but everything went smoothly once aboard. The host was called Mr Bean and was an absolute legend.
It was a holiday weekend so lots of Vietnamese on the cruise though I was seated by a fellow European – Alexandre, a wine seller from France, who was dead on.
About half an hour after leaving we were served a beautiful buffet and then had a chance to explore the boat and take in the sights as we approached over first destination.
Caves
We transferred from the cruise ship into a smaller boat to bring us over to our first stop, an epic cave. It was roasting outside but nice and cool inside, and just really impressive to see. The boat picked us up the other side and brought us back to the ship.
Kayak
Next up was a fun speedboat ride before having half an hour to splash about in a kayak. Myself and Alexandre joined up and went under the arch to an epic lagoon. Once again it was very hot in the sun but we kayaked over to the shade which was nice, before returning.
Chill
Our final stop was a beach island that had a hut on top of it. Having done a half marathon that morning I was a bit spent in terms of physical activity so made myself at home in the jacuzzi at the back of the ship. This was lovely and I basically dossed about here as we returned to land.
So Long, Ha Long
A very worthwhile trip and glad to have done it, despite my early start. In truth, there’s not much else to do in Ha Long, and lots of the cruises even leave from Hanoi, but for me it was a nice way to top off the time in Ha Long. Conked for a bit once home, before getting up for some food, and then back to bed for an early night.
Awoke early and got a TimeWarp in before being picked up and brought to the airport to return to Da Nang.
DavAI SummAIriser
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