I took a lovely 3 day 2 night tour with V Spirit cruises. I had read it was one of the nicer cruise lines, and it did not disappoint. It was about a 4 hour bus ride from Hanoi to Halong Bay. On the first day, we arrived around 12:30 and boarded the boat. I had a lovely room with en suite and balcony, all decorated with lacquered wood. Very nice. We then were served a very large lunch while we cruised through the limestone peaks in the bay. It was sunny and clear and the views were spectacular ... it definitely deserves to be a wonder of the world!
Following lunch we visited the impressive Hang Sung Sot caves. Inside were three massive caverns each larger than the next with stalagmites and stalactites and interesting rock formations. We emerged from the cave at a nice lookout with a panoramic view of the bay.
The second day started with Thai chi at 6:30, followed by pho, fruit, and eggs for breakfast. I then departed on another smaller boat for a more secluded area of the bay (Lan Ha Bay) to go kayaking. Like the first day, the weather was warm and sunny. We travelled for about an hour towing the kayaks behind. The kayaks were not in great shape. One had a gaping hole in the bow, but it served its purpose and was steady in the water. We kayaked for about 1 hour, paddling through several caves and seeing about 8 sand coloured monkeys. The towering limestone cliffs were impressive and it was a lot less crowded than the main bay.
They served us a gigantic lunch complete with intricately carved fruit. We ended our tour with more kayaking and a visit to an oyster farm where they were growing pearls. Such a painstaking process. One can understand why pearls are so expensive.
We returned to the main boat for another large multi-course dinner. The highlight was when the chef flambeed some shrimp. Flames lapped at the wooden ceiling and steam filled the dining room. Not exactly the safest show! After dinner we played a traditional Vietnamese puzzle game and tried our hands at squid fishing.
On the last day, we did some more kayaking in a very spectacular grotto surrounded by tall limestone cliffs. We returned to the boat for a fruit carving demonstration and a cooking lesson in how to make fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. We had another large lunch complete with lots of local seafood and then headed back to Hanoi.
Here are a few photos from the second and third days. I accidentally pocket deleted all my cell phone photos from the first day. How is that even possible! So disappointing but I do have some others on my Nikon.
Tomorrow I am off to the village of Bac Giang to see the school, which is in a rural hamlet outside Bac Giang. I was just told it is very difficult to change money there and they take no Visa. So I had to go out in search of an ATM to get some dong just now in a hurry.
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