Ha Long Bay is truly a Viet Nam treasure! We had such a nice trip, and it's as beautiful as we'd hoped. Amazing! The Halong Jasmine ship was just beautiful. Decorated in 1930's Indochine style, it had dark coloured wood furniture and trimmings, and some beautiful asian statues of deer, a drum, a dragon, amongst others. Our cabin was walled and ceilinged with bamboo panels, and the bathroom had a marble shower, a beautiful 'bowl' sink and granite countertop. We had wall to wall windows, one of which we could open, so it wasn't too bad to have to stay in the room while the girlz napped. The ride to there was hell though: took 4 hours (minus a 15 minute stop) to get there, despite it being less than a 200km drive. Savannah was a bit carsick, which made it worse. Gravol helped, but then she had the post-gravol grouchies the rest of the day.
The meals on the ship were beautifully presented and probably delicious, if you like seafood. Judging by the ouhs and ahs at our table, they were a hit. There were plenty of deck chairs for viewing the rocky splendour of the bay. And the waters were almost glassy, so no chance of seasickness! whew! When the boat stopped to overnight in a bay, we counted 11 other cruise ships in the vicinity. Because of the sharpness of the karst (rocks, just using a fancier word), there is little possiblity of building or living on these. But people do live on Ha Long bay, right on their boats! There are whole fishing villages out there. I counted at least 20 floating homes in one area, interconnected with ganplanks. There was even a floating bank! Wonder if they keep bankers' hours?
We visited the "Surprise" caves. Wow! We had to climb up and down, up and down some stone steps, both outside and within the caves. The main cave could hold hundreds of people, and it adjoined to a number of other large caves. Surprise is an apt name, as around every corner we were suprised by how many more caverns there were (it just went on and on!). At the top, where the cave opens to outside, we got a breathtaking view of the bay. We'd recommend the Ha Long Bay experience to anyone who's looking for scenery that's out of this world, and a nice piece of 'junk' to sail upon! http://vietnam.exotissimo.com/luxury/tours/cruise-halong-bay-by-luxury-junk/
We're excitedly preparing to head home. Oh, the packing! : )
Sounds like it was incredible!! Hope you have a fun trip home. See you in December. Please being the kids in to see us after December 6th so I can meet Tanje and see Savannah again.
ReplyDeleteSee you soon, Cindy
The Halong Bay cruise sounded awesome-glad the waters were calm. Reminded me of the "fiord " cruise we took in Nfld. with high granite peaks(a bit of a misnomer as it really wasn't salt water). We are so anxious to see you all on Wed. We aren't bringing Vanessa and David as Josée would have to come and pick them up alone. We will probably stay until Sun., but, we'll sleep at Dave's. The Morisses will come for the day Sat. and we'll go to Elaine's...if you have the key. Have a safe trip home. Love, Mom & Dad
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