Friday 10 June 2016

Halong Bay - Friday 10 June

Up early and breakfast in the hotel which was included in the room rate. It was okay buffet but they did cook an omelette fresh for me each morning. The hotel is very quiet. It is not peak season due to being summer.

Picked up by luxury minibus for the 4 hour drive to Halong Bay. Met some other guests - all couples and from France, China, Canada, Mexico and Japan. Good cultural mix.

Quy was our guide and very knowledgeable so we learned a lot on our way there.

Got to the marina and tendered out to the boat. I had chosen a newer one which was a good call. Have lunch while keys were issued. I had a nice room with private balcony. There was a spa on the front deck and a nice large place to sit up top.

My room on the boat...nice...




Food is included but not coffee or alcohol. Had a beer with lunch which was VND66,000 - about 3 times what I paid in Hanoi. After lunch, a woman in a sampan approached us and sold us beers for VND30,000, so we bought some and out them in our fridges.

We motored for a while and the scenery was stunning. Moored and the split into people who wanted to do kayaking and those who wanted to do hiking. I wanted to hike as you could swim at the end. We were tendered to a small island.

The hike was just a steep walk to the top of that island where you could take photos. Back down and there was a beach where you could swim from. Water temp was lovely and a relief after the walk as it was very hot.





We bought more beer there for VND20,000 so we were well set for the night.

Had a spa, followed by a nice dinner and then spent the evening on the top deck and met some other guests. Unusually there were no Australian's, Poms or Yanks and it was really nice to be with a range of other nationalities. Spanish speakers mostly.

Buying beer...



Steep hike...


Beautiful...









Swam here...


Having a well deserved spa...


Karaoke...Rene from Mexico and Laurent from France...


Ali and Rene...

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