I mentioned in my first post about this trip that I had intended to visit Ha Long bay in 2020. My friend and I were going to stay there for a few days and take a boat trip out into the bay but it was scuppered by Covid and the place shut down just before we were due to go there. This time my partner and I booked an overnight cruise to be taken immediately after the photography tour. As we drove through Ha Long itself I was glad that I hadn’t stayed there before as the place is rather soulless and didn’t appeal at all. However, the boat trip was fabulous, once we got on it! The coach pulled up at the port, and there were thousands of people there. We wondered how we’d ever find the right boat as it seemed to be total chaos, but it was in fact a very organised chaos! Somebody found us and led us to the right place, and after a 45 minute journey by small boat, we arrived at our actual boat in time for a delicious lunch. We had 24 hours out in the bay, during which time we had a cruise on a catamaran, kayaked through a cave, swam in the sea, ate 4 delicious meals and generally relaxed.
It happened to be a full moon that night so it couldn’t have been more perfect.
Next morning we got up early to photograph the sunrise.
Little fishing boats chugged around.
After brunch all the big boats departed at a similar time to drop their passengers back.
It was then back to the chaos of the port, finding our coach back to Hanoi, staying there one last night, and flying home the next day. I like Vietnam very much and if anyone is unsure whether it’s worth visiting – it definitely is!
