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Halong Bay has been on my bucket list for a long time, I was so happy I was able to squeeze this into a weekend trip while working in Ho Chi Minh for 3 weeks. My parents flew in from Taiwan to join me and we decided to take a family vacation and do a 2 days, 1 night cruise around Halong Bay.
In order to get to Halong Bay from Ho Chi Minh, you have to fly into Hanoi airport and then take a shuttle for 2 hours to get there. This has been the only way to get to Halong Bay for years. However, there's a new airport that just opened earlier this year in Halong Bay but there are not a lot of flights coming in or out so the flight times might be limited. But if you want to really maximize your trip, I would recommend flying through Hanoi airport, which is the capital of Vietnam, it's also known for the rich culture and the old architecture, that way you can knock out both Hanoi and Halong Bay in one weekend.
The cruise ship scheduled to leave at 12pm on Saturday and coming back 11:30am on Sunday. So in order to see both Hanoi and Halong Bay, we flew in Friday night and flew out late on Sunday night so we had plenty of time after the cruise to visit Old Quarter in Hanoi. *a tip: when booking your hotel in Hanoi, make sure the hotel has a shuttle that takes you to and from Halong Bay, most hotels do!
The hotel we stayed at in Hanoi was called the Hanoi L'Heritage Centre Hotel. It was a french influenced hotel near the Old Quarter that included a shuttle to and from Halong Bay and included breakfast! The rooms were super cute and the balcony view really made you feel the old school vibe of Hanoi.
There are plenty of cruise lines in Halong Bay that range from $100-$300USD a person. The cruise lines range from budget to mid to luxury and you can choose a 2 days, 1 night tour or do 3 days, 2 nights tours. A website I used to help me pick which cruise line to go with was this one: https://www.halongbaytours.com/cruises/best-sellers.html, it really broke down the cruise lines in terms of guest reviews, cruise vibes, and cost. They are all intimate cruises with about 40-50 people on board. We decided to go with the Peony Cruise, it was in the luxury range and was about $155USD/person. The cruise includes the room, dining, kayaking, cooking class, and cave exploring. One big thing for me was having a balcony in my room and every cabin on this cruise had one.
Once you choose your cruise line, the website I used to book my cruise was https://www.halongbaycruises.com/, that website seemed to have the best prices when compared to other sites and it was super legit! I had a travel agent walk me through everything and she was available via WeChat if I had any questions at all.
I went to Halong Bay in the middle of March, it was much cooler in temperature than Ho Chi Minh and it was pretty foggy out. Although I would've loved to come visit when it's warmer and there were clearer skies, it was still a really epic to see Halong Bay among the clouds, there was a Pirates of the Caribbean vibe to it!
This was the Peony Cruise ship! A very intimate cruise with just three floors, the first floor is the entrance to get onto the ship, cabins, and a spa for massages. The second floor is the dining room and majority of the cabins. The third floor had a deck to lay out and the outdoor bar. The rooms were so cute and modern, we comfortably fit three people in our room. The views from the bathtub and the balcony were just amazing. The ship cruises by thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests. The views were just EPIC.
The Peony Cruise provides a schedule for the entire 2 days and 1 night cruise. We cruised from Halong Bay to Lan Ha Bay and had a ton of activities to choose from. There was honestly something for everyone on the cruise. The food was also really good and they were very accommodating with dietary restrictions as well.
Kayaking
One of the first activities we did was kayaking! The cruise ship stays tethered as a little boat takes you from the cruise to the kayaking spot. You can either go in your very own kayak or partner up with someone. They provide the kayak, paddles, and life vests. It was super awesome to kayak around the islands and paddling into the caves.
Cave Exploring
The second day we went cave exploring at Lan Ha Bay. We took a small boat from the cruise ship to a bus on land that took us about 30 minutes to the cave. It was so amazing to be among the rainforest. You had to walk up stairs to a look out point before you get to the cave, which had a breathtaking view of the forest. Once you enter the cave, there's a paved path and it was lit up, there were really narrow areas and even bats in the cave!
At the end of the cave, there was an outdoor bar in the rainforest with drinks, a rest area, and bathrooms before you shuttle bus back to the cruise ship.
Hanoi, Vietnam
After the cave exploring, we made our way back to the cruise ship to check out of our cruise at the dock. Once we got on the shuttle back to Hanoi, we still had plenty of time to check out Old Quarter before our flight. Old Quarter is made up of 36 old-styled narrow streets that used to be dedicated to one specific trade per street. Craftsmen from villages used to gather in the different streets to sell their goods to merchants. Most of the streets are still named starting with the word hàng ("wares"), like Hàng Tre street ("bamboo wares street") and Hàng Đồng street ("copper wares street"). But now, the streets are filled with a mix of goods from house wares, to clothing, to candy, to anything else you can think of. It was super fun to shop here, I bought clothes, bowls, purses, and even a bamboo lamp shade. The vendors definitely bump up prices for tourists so make sure you haggle!
We had dinner at the cutest restaurant called Lotus Blanc that overlooked all the hustle and bustle of the city. You can eat on the balcony and people watch! They had amazing Vietnamese food, I ordered the Bun Cha (vermicelli noodle with fish sauce and pork).
Then it was about time to catch the red eye flight back to Ho Chi Minh. I absolutely loved exploring Hanoi and Halong Bay and will definitely be back. There's nothing quite like Halong Bay and cruising around the giant limestone islands was a dream! I would definitely recommend visiting if you are ever in Vietnam.
<3,
Laura C.
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