I’m in the beautiful, mysterious, iconic Halong Bay in Vietnam.
These islands are known as ‘tower karsts’. They’re made of limestone, and there are over 1,600 of them in the area.
My boat – the Starlight:)
The cruise boat, the food, and the guide are all really great. My room (and JACUZZI tub!):
The water for the tub isn’t super hot, but the strong jets still feel really good.
There are 1,600 islands, so you can cruise on a boat for hours and hours and not see them all. This is some of the scenery I saw:
On the first day, we got on another boat and went to the Halong Bay’s biggest cave. What a great surprise.. this place was amaaazing!
It was a hike up to the top, and I just loved seeing inside the cave… the lighting made everything glow and colorful. The rooms were much bigger than I thought they would be – enormous! View from the island the cave is on:
After the cave tour, I went back to my room, and I opened my window in my room (which, by the way, definitely opens wide enough to easily fall out). When I did, this lady on a boat below my window is yelling at me to buy stuff.
I wanted chocolate, so I negotiated her down to three Snickers for $5 (yeah, what a rip-off). While this was happening, I took a picture of her. So, she hoisted up the Snickers in her basket, and I put the viet-dong equivalent of $5 in and sent it back. Then she starts yelling at me: “Lady! Lady! $5!” She wanted me to pay her five dollars more because I took a picture of her. I told her No and tried to ignore her. She stayed there, though, yelling: “Lady! It’s me! It’s me!”. After I close my window, I can still hear her yelling “It’s me! It’s me!” And then she was hitting my window with her stick! I was afraid she was going to complain to the boat staff and have me deported! She finally stopped when my neighbors rescued me and bought something else from her! And one of the Snickers was crap, by the way (old and looked like dust). What a bitch!
her stick and basket!
boat retail
After a night in the this amazing room, went on another boat the next morning to go sea kayaking. We went through/under four different islands and kayaked around a lot more – a few hours. I also saw someone capsize their kayak when I was taking the video😂
Then we went to a pearl farm. Interesting to see this in the middle of nowhere, but we went there because they wanted us to buy stuff of course. I didn’t buy anything, but I would’ve bought chocolate if they had it😁
Next up: Bangkok for New Years!
Category: #travelTags: caves, cruise, gulf of tonkin, halong bay, limestone, oysters, pearls, round the world, south china sea, southeast asia, starlight, travel, vietnam
I heard so many good things about Vietnam, I decided to go!
I also didn’t want to miss out on seeing the iconic Halong Bay islands. So, I have one day in Hanoi + three days on a Halong Bay cruise + 1 day in Hanoi, before I head to Bangkok for New Years.
Hanoi is (tied w/Kyoto) my favorite city I’ve seen so far. I can’t explain exactly why… I think the main thing is that it has so much greenery – trees everywhere – and also water everywhere. It’s a huge city, but it feels small. It’s not particularly clean, but it’s not dirty either. It reminds me a little of San Francisco, a little New Orleans. The food is ridiculous too.. I’m thinking Vietnamese food might officially be my favorite type of food now😋 I just love Hanoi. Wish I had more time here.
I went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, but I didn’t go in because the wait was so long. I really liked seeing the building!
ho chi minh mausoleum
Another major attraction in Hanoi is the Hoan Kiem Lake. It has a really beautiful park around it, which adds to the greenery in the city center, and it offers a bit of a peaceful respite in between busy streets.
turtle tower
park around lake
Huc Bridge over Hoan Kiem Lake
Hoan Kiem Lake
Here are some other buildings and statues…
Hanoi Opera House
Lenin statue
building by the lake
hanoi
hanoi buildings
view from my FREE hotel room
I booked a free room at the Sheraton with Starpoints. Super nice, great room and view, and totally free. LOVE points and miles game☺️ I have around 20 free nights used/booked right now. It feels so amazing to stay in a nice hotel and pay absolutely nothing! Workin’ the system. I’m glad I was able to learn about points and miles from a friend, I’m so grateful for that. Love it!
Hanoi streets::
hanoi street – welding
cute streets
more motorbikes!
happy NY
There is a really great restaurant (four or five locations) called Highway4 (thanks for the referral Jackson😘). I had the most delicious lunchhhh!!!! All this for $7.
spring rolls & tofu w/pork & szechuan
lemon juice w/salt!
I’m extremely excited for Halong Bay tomorrow!!! I have a 3d/2n cruise that I booked last minute. It was quite a bit cheaper b/c I booked so late. AND, I booked and paid for a mid-level class of boat, but then, it turned out that the boat wasn’t full enough, so I was upgraded for no additional cost to a higher level boat AND upgraded room😏!! !!Que suerte!! It is supposed to be foggy – I’m hoping I’ll still be able to see some cool stuff despite that.
SO EXCITED!
Next up: Halong Bay
Category: #travelTags: cruise, halong bay, hanoi, highway 4, ho chi minh mausoleum, hoan kiem lake, huc bridge, lenin statue, motorbikes, parks, points and miles, presidential palace, round the world, sheraton, spring roll, starpoints, tofu, travel, turtle tower, vietnam
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