Setting Sail in Ha Long Bay

Words can't describe what a cool experience our 3-day boat trip on Ha Long Bay was. We went with Vega Travel (after an afternoon of research) and were so pleased with our guide and the tour and everything we were able to see. Our "junk"- which is what they call the style of boat we were on, was nice and clean, and our room was pretty good sized. Y'see, we'd heard horror stories about dirty boats, lost passports and luggage, and junks filled with more passengers than capacity. So we felt really lucky when we had a group size of 8 the first day, and then it was just down to 4 of us for the remaining 2 days. Doing a 3-day trip on Ha Long Bay was great advice we had received from a traveler we met in Hoi An.

The first day we took a minibus to Ha Long City - about 4 hours. Then we hopped on our vessel and weaved our way out of the junk jam to the open bay. It was overcast the first day, which was a disappointment, but it was still beautiful. We explored some caves, did some kayaking, jumped off the boat deck and swam in the water. We had a tasty dinner and then decided to play some cards with our English friends, Chris and Mark. We taught the boys how to play "Somethings Gotta Give" and they were huge fans! And if I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure I won! It was such a peaceful evening, sitting out on the deck of the boat, trying to see the stars peak through the clouds and looking at the lights reflecting off the fellow junks on the water. Before retiring to my cabin, I had to pinch myself because sometimes I just can't believe this is real!

The second day was pretty much all to ourselves. The 2 Spanish couples returned to Ha Long City, and we went on with our English friends and our good little guide, Ba. We went into a different bay, Lan Ha. This was our guide's favorite place because we could escape from all the other people. We went on a hike through Cat Ba National Park - and it poured rain on us. We went through a couple's little home in the park. They are the first people I've ever met allowed to live in a National Park - but apparently, they were there long before it was declared a protected area. The man had gone to the market that day, which consisted of an hour hike to the water and then a 3-hr boat trip. Quite the trek to get to the market, huh? We finished our hike, had some lunch, the sun came out, we did some kayaking and then motored away to Cat Ba Island.


We had the afternoon and evening to ourselves on the Island - free to wander around, grab some dinner, explore the uneventful nightlife that the town had to offer. Lani and I tried to hit the discoteca, but it turns out that nobody really goes there on a Saturday night. They were playing techno anyway, which explains why the dance floor was empty! :)

The next day we drove through the National Park and then we were back on a junk and headed into Ha Long City. Fortunately, we got another few hours on the boat, looking at the scenery and the sun actually came out. It was quite a beautiful trip and we totally lucked out with a fantastic guide - who really was a true delight! (Below is Captain Ba himself)