Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Amazing Ha Long Bay Cruise Experience

Ha Long Bay (Halong Bay) is truly a nature wonder. The name Ha Long 下龙 revealed the legend that the place was once the site where dragons descended. The breathtaking islets with vertical karst limestone walls are contrasted by the emerald green water below, calm and quiet. No wonder it is listed as one of the UNESCO Heritage Site. 

Ha Long Bay is four hours away from Hanoi by road (30 minutes of rest in between). Lucky, the road condition was not too bad. We were able to rest on our eleven-seater Ford Transit.

Our two-day-one-night tour was provided by Indochina Junk. Our itinerary- lunch on the junk while we cruised into the heart of Ha Long Bay, kayaking around the islet, exploring the cave at Thien Canh Son, swimming, and later dinner on board on the first day. Second day, we took our breakfast on our way to Vung Vieng fishing village, exploring the village and the pearl industry, and took lunch on our way back to the harbour. The fee, USD280 for two of us.

Why Indochina Junk? First, strong recommendation from Livien, which had pushed us to take the tour package with Indochina Junk. Then, overwhelming good reviews in Tripadvisor, and of course, the exclusive Bai Tu Long Bay tour. As far as we knew, there were only two cruise companies have been given the permission to enter Bai Tu Long Bay. We were lucky to enjoy more space and privacy in the middle of the world heritage. Worth it or not? For us, definitely a big yes.

We were introduced to our tour guide, Tony after we arrived at the Ha Long City. It was 1 pm. He led us to our junk with a glamorous name- Dragon's Pearl (made us think of Black Pearl in Pirates of the Caribbean). We would like to continue our sharing with our photos.

Entire "Ha Long" fleet can be seen from the waiting room at the harbour.Please click on this photo to see the bigger panoramic image.

Photo taken at the jetty, when we were waiting for the transit boat to our junk. It was hazy throughout our 2 days' tour. The haze limited our visibility but had enhanced the elements of adventure.

Junks undocked from the harbour and cruised into the sea dotted with limestone islets.

One of the sister ships of our junk. We shared the same journey throughout our trip.

The bedroom was decorated in traditional Chinese style with wooden wall and floor (upper left), outdoor and indoor dining area (upper and lower right), and a place for us to lay down and relax on the top level of the junk. The indoor dining area was completed with a bar.

Our photo on the upper deck of the junk.

We took 2 hours to reach Thien Canh Son. The islet is owned by Indochina Junk and received very limited visitors. Thien Canh means heavenly landscape. Our tour guide Tony described the place with a name that we couldn't agree more- Paradise Island.

 Beautiful scenery around the islet.

Photo taken from opposite site of our landing area, which could be accessed through Thien Canh Cave. The view from the high ground was amazing, even though some of the view was blocked by overgrown vegetation.

Cave exploration was something that we didn't expected. The cave was windy with cooling temperature during our visit. The ancient stalagtites and stalagmites revealed the age of the cave. This beautiful cave could be reached by climbing a few stairs- a price that we gladly paid.


 Our family photo at the entrance of the cave.

Yeah, we went Kayaking. That experience was larger than life. The limestone islets were so huge and magnificent when we moved closer to them. We should have brought our camera with us, but we didn't. We left it in the locker when we went kayaking.

After kayaking and caving, we spent some time to enjoy the beautiful beach. A swim in the cooling sea water was really refreshing.

Back to our junk, we enjoyed our sumptuous dinner with finely decorated dishes.

We couldn't see anything around us, except the dim illumination from the junks. However, when we pushed the ISO to H2, well, this is what our saw through our camera.

Night on the junk was quiet, with occational sound of singing and laughing from other travel mates. We slept early that night, with the hope to wake up early to see the sunrise. Follow us on the second day of our cruise tour at Ha Long Bay in our next post. 


43 comments:

  1. I heard lot about Halog Bay' beauty and it comes in 7 wonder also. Amazing photographs, Seems you guys enjoyed lot there.

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    ReplyDelete
  2. hạ long bay is beautyfull http://hanhtrinhdulichviet.com/tour/TourTrongNuoc/TourMienBac/HaLong/379_Di_du_lich_ha_long_cat_ba_3_ngay_2_dem.html

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  5. This was a great way to see Halong Bay Cruise during our holidays.It is much more than we expected on a cruise.We did a 2-night, 3-day trip on the cruise,the service was excellent..The tour was guided by origin vietnam.they give set the standard for services. It is biggest adventure i have seen..Thanks origin vietnam.
    Recommended origin vietnam.If we get a chance to visit there again, we'll definitely go with origin vietnam

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    1. Dear John, good day! Thank you for leaving a link related to the prices of several cruise companies. Hope our reader find your information helpful. Please be coorporative to keep one link only to your commercial page in our blog, as we will have to delete the further added links to the same source/ topic. Thank you very much.

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  7. Nice post and picture.
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  9. Great blog post. I used to be checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Extremely helpful information specially the closing phase :) I deal with such info a lot. I used to be seeking this particular information for a very lengthy time. Thanks and good luck.
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    1. Dear Anderson, glad you enjoy reading our blog. Thank you for the link.

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  10. Great blog post, informative list. Thanks so much. I’m enjoying devouring your site!!
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  11. Looks great and beautiful, love Halong bay

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    Replies
    1. Can't be more agree with you! It is indeed one of the most beautiful place on earth.

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  12. Amazing information shared with us about your Halong Bay Tour, the pictures and the beauty of halong bay make me more excited to visit this amazing place. The details you have mentioned here are enough for an unknown traveller. Thanks for sharing your lovely experience.

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    1. Most welcome. Hope you can provide more information about trip and tips to our readers.

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  13. Thanks for sharing your Halong trip experience... it is very useful inforamtion those who planning to visit halong bay.

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    1. Thank you for your link, David. Hope you can provide good service to our readers.

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  14. Welcome Betty and Ling Shing. yeah I am here for provide better service in Hanoi.

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    1. Thank you for providing more choices to our readers.

      Regards,

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  16. What a fabulous blog post guys. This trip sounds simply stunning, your research paid off as it sounds like you had a blast and have the photos to prove it

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    1. Glad to know you like our posts. Stick with us for more travel experience from us :)

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  17. I like your blog and this is very amazing and interesting for me i agree with your all information about the Halong Bay Promotions well done.
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    1. Thank you my friend. We hope you can provide the best discount to our readers :)

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  18. I like your article, nice photos!
    Halong Bay is truly a prodigious natural wonder of the world. Here are some experiences and advices to plan a perfect trip to Halong Bay:

    Outstanding universal value: This is the best online resource you should read to discover Halong Bay values.

    Traveler's reviews & rating: Tripadvisor now is the best place for you to read reviews & rating about Halong Bay.

    Halong Bay hotel: Paradise Suites is one of the best hotel in Halong. It is #1 of 60 hotels in Halong Bay now on Tripadvisor.

    Best Halong Bay cruise: Paradise Cruise launch Elegance in January 2017. It is truly a distinctive cruise line, a fleet of two boutique & luxury cruise ships with incredible price.

    Halong Bay luxury cruise: This cruise is similar with Elegance. The difference is this fleet has 4 luxury wooden boats and cruise price is more competitive.

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  19. I am planning on visiting Vietnam and this is an amazing blog, with beautiful pictures. Thank you for writing it! If you ever plan on visiting Nepal, please checkout The Mountains trails for more details!

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  20. Nice article, thank you for sharing useful information. Now i am going to bookmark it.

    Thanks
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  21. very nice pictures on this blog & interesting. We offer service private transfer from Hanoi to Halong Bay only 79$ /04 seat.


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  23. There are a lot of things to see in Myanmar. Let start from Yangon’s downtown. Take walking tour to Yangon’s downtown, you should visit Botaunga Paya. This temple is not crowded as Shwedagon Paya or Sule Paya, which makes the atmosphere around the temple more peaceful. The temple was gilded from floor to ceiling. You can easily walk through the Botataung, because it is hollow (not as the other zedi, most of them are solid). On the northern side of the stupa, there is a large gilded bronze Buddha. There is a pavilion which contains images of Thurathadi in the southwest corner of Botataung. Standing from there, you can also see a good view of Yangon River.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for highlighting the nice places at Yangon. We visited Yangon a few years ago, and it was a great place for a short trip. Do read more about our trip to Yangon http://bettyandlingshing.blogspot.com/2013/05/first-day-in-yangon.html

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    2. Thanks for sharing such a nice and wonderful blog.I appreciate you for posting such a beautiful blog.

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  25. Thank you for helpful post. I have just completed a mini library about Halong Bay and cruise tours, hope it's helpful.

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