Precious Memories: Halong Bay, Vietnam

Halong Bay, Vietnam -- December 4, 2016

This was the highlight of the cruise, at least for me anyway. I was really excited about this port and wanted to get up on deck to watch the sailing in early in the morning. Many other passengers had the same idea. It was a cloudy morning but we were still able to see the many islands of rock formations from the distance as we sailed into port.

Another Vinepearl resort/park.

A pretty bug on the railing.

Deck 8 aft

Tenders getting ready to transport passengers.

A ship that was used as a platform to transfer passengers on HAL excursions to their boats instead of having to take the tenders into port.

Those of us who are doing private tours would take the tenders into the old tender pier to meet our guides. Today we joined a tour with My Way Travel (Steven) which offered an all-day tour to Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay for $99 pp. Yes, a little bit on the expensive end but well worth it. We had an amazing day enjoying all the sights and had fun at the same time.

For this port, we did not have to get tender tickets. All we had to do was to get on the tenders whenever we were ready and it was such an easy process that I wonder why they don't do this more often on all the cruises. There was no line, no crowds, no waiting. The Vietnamese immigration officials were on board the ship and they stamped our landing cards before we got on the tenders. The tender ride from the ship to shore took about 15 minutes.

Arriving shore side.

I was expecting to see many tour boats here but found none. We met our guides and they lead us to the buses waiting nearby. There were two buses with about 30 some people on each bus. They separated us into four groups but at the end of the day we could see only one other boat that was with us the whole time. Not sure what happened to the other groups.

We waited for about 30 minutes on the bus until everybody was accounted for before driving off to the boat dock on the island where we had to cross the bridge to get to. The drive from the tender port to the boat dock was around 20 minutes.

Some sights along the way.

Arrived at the marina as we were waiting for our guide to get tickets for our boat trip. It seemed to be a complicated process as our guide seemed to be frustrated going back and forth between counters. We took the opportunity to use the clean restrooms across from this building before boarding our boat.

There were many, many tour groups taking their boat trips here and I assumed that most of them were on shorter excursions because at the end of the day we were the only two boats left as we sailed around the area.

A peek at the counters inside.

There is a good-size market on the other side of the building. I suppose for people to buy snacks and stuff to take along on the boat ride.

Finally got our tickets for the trip. Each of us got two tickets, one for the government and one for the private boat tour company.

Many vendors doing last minute business along the boat dock as we walked along looking for our boat. Prices seemed good and you definitely want to bargain before buying.

Onto our boat.

Boat next to ours. We were at the far end of the dock.

Many boats docked that morning waiting for their tour groups.

16 of us got on this private boat that could hold 40 some people.

Leaving dock.

We were to stay inside until the boat left the harbor.

Our guide, Man, who was funny and experienced, gave us a little introduction as we waited for the crew to bring the fresh ingredients for our lunch.

Boats leaving dock at the same time.

An example of the rock formations on the bill.

After we sailed out, we went up to the top deck of the boat.

One of the boats that take passengers on overnight trips.

I was so glad that our captain took the route that was away from all the other boats.

This popular rock attracted all the boats here which we did not even bother to get near. We would come back later on.

A large cave where some tours will get off to.

Local fishing boat.

We were sailing farther and farther away from everybody else to Bai Tu Long Bay.

Another overnight boat.

Getting off at this beach near the cave. This is a nice beach but no swimming was allowed here.

Took some work to get us off the boat.

Beautiful sight as we walked up to the cave. This is a smaller cave to avoid the crowds. We were the only two boats that were there.

Back down to the beach after our cave visit.

The two boats.

Now, we are ready for lunch!

We had a delicious fresh seafood lunch that day. Totally enjoyed the food!

seafood soup

Look at the fresh shrimps!

and crabs

steamed oysters

some kind of fried rolls

stir-fried squid

whole steamed fish

stir-fried cabbage

stir-fried chicken

More crabs from the other table. One other table had vegetarian and no seafood choices and they were provided with adequate dishes.

After lunch we were dropped off at the fishing village where we would take small boats (4 to 5 passengers each) for about an hour to see the village. We were told to give $1 pp to the rower of the boat as tips. This turned out to be an interesting and fun trip.

Waiting for our little boat.

boat dock

On our boat

Our friends from the other boat.

Back to the boat dock after an hour.

They also set up 'store' selling souvenirs on the boat. Bargain, bargain! I bought a couple of necklaces for $10 each and the scarves also around $10. SIL later got some better bargain but I was happy with mine, so it was OK.

Sailing back to port. As you can see, there was no other boats around us by now.

The "Kissing Birds"!

From the other side.

Back at the marina, no more boats left now.

We were brought back to the tender pier but we still have a few hours before our ship would leave. I wanted to go to Hong Gai so I had Man called a taxi for us telling the driver where we wanted to go. I took this picture just in case we need to show the taxi driver where to drop us off on our way back.

We wanted to get to Vincom Plaza in Hong Gai hoping to see the fishing village there and also enjoy a cup of good Vietnamese coffee as suggested by Ian, the Location Guide on the ship. As the taxi drove around after crossing the bridge, I got a little worried not sure where the taxi was taking us because it looked like he was taking a long way to get there. What a relief when we finally arrived at the Vincom Plaza. The taxi ride was around $10 and the driver told us to pick up another taxi from across the street when we were ready to go back. By now, it was all dark, and there was no way that we could see the fishing village so we just went inside the Vincom Plaza to see what was inside.

This is a huge and beautiful mall with many high-end stores. Notice the guys on the left of this picture? That was where we picked up the taxi back to port later on.

The coffee shop is right in the middle of this photo with the red tents.

Ice skating rink on the top level of the mall.

Not very busy on this evening.

After walking around the different levels we went outside to the coffee shop for a cup of coffee.

Ordered and paid first.

ChC wanted to try their banh mi. He said it was really good!

Excellent cup of coffee.

After the coffee, it was time for us to get back to the ship. The taxi driver told us to catch a taxi across the street but we did not see any over there. There were some guys and taxis right outside of the mall but we were not sure if they were legitimate and if those were safe to use. Then I saw the door man/security from the mall standing there talking to the guys so I went over and showed the photo of the tender pier to him and he told one of the driver to take us back. I just wanted to make sure someone other than the driver knew where we were going and who we were with. We were back at the tender pier in one piece and it only cost us $6 this time around.