July 25, 2015 

I had Miss Ly book me a one-day Halong Bay Tour for 815,000 VND ($38 USD). The standard tour was $8 cheaper, but I opted for the “better quality tour” -still unsure what that included.

The itinerary was pretty standard:

7:45 - Picked up in the Old Quarter and then driven to Ha Long Bay. Short 20-minute break half-way through before arriving at the Halong tourist wharf at 11:45 am.

12:00 - “Board a private boat and cruise through the bay with the famous islets such as Cock Fighting, Dinh Huong islets …while enjoying fresh seafood lunch (on boat). You’ll also visit Thien Cung Cave (havven grotto), and then take 30 minutes kayaking around the islands and water tunnels to feel more deeply the charm of the place that considered the heaven on earth.” (Miss Ly’s words are too good not to share!)

16:30 - You will return to Halong tourist wharf and take the bus back to Hanoi. Dropped off in the Old Quarter around 8:00 pm.

The food was alright. The boat was safe and clean. The guide was enthusiastic and experienced. And funny. When someone asked him if we were eating the popular Vietnamese beef noodle dish, phở (mispronounced), for lunch, he replied, “Po means street. Pho means knife. Phở is the soup. Intonation is everything!”

If I were to go more back, with more time and wits, I’d have tried getting to Halong Bay without the tour guide. Or go further north to the less-visited Bai Tu Long Bay, where nature’s spectacular show continues all the way to the Chinese border. Or head to rugged Cat Ba, a verdant island known for its hiking, biking, sailing, and rock climbing.

On this trip, the kayaking was nonexistent because of the heavy rains. Instead, we had a local woman paddle us around rocky islands as we held our umbrellas and tried to stay dry.