My trip to Ha Long Bay, Vietnam: How to get there and where to stay

in #travel7 years ago (edited)

DSC_0942.jpg

Would you like to visit Ha Long Bay in Vietnam? If you've already been, would you return?

It was on my list for so long, we finally went there in February 2015. Cruising by ship on Ha Long Bay is the best way to enjoy the natural beauty, so I booked a 3-day, 2-night tour onboard a beautiful ship for my husband and I.

How to get there?

The closest airport to Ha Long Bay is Cat Bi international airport in Hai Phong, a little more than a 1-hour car ride from Ha Long Bay. The cruise I booked offered free pickup from a hotel in Ha Noi and transfer to Ha Long Bay, which is more than 3-hour ride. Would you choose to fly to Hai Phong or Ha Noi? We chose to fly to Hai Phong then took a taxi to a hotel in Ha Long so we can relax a little bit before going on the cruise trip. The taxi ride had a very nice coastal view.

Where to stay?

We stayed at a hotel called Sai Gon Ha Long hotel which has a very nice ocean view.

DSC_0506.jpg

Our room at Sai Gon Ha Long hotel

DSC_0511.jpg

This was our first vacation without our son since he was born. Free from 24x7 parental responsibility, we drank as much as we pleased. The food and the wine were good. It felt like a second honeymoon.

DSC_0521.jpg

The next day we took a taxi to Victory Café for a 12 pm ship-boarding at the Hon Gai International Port. We took a small boat to our cruise ship. On the way, we saw many other boats full of tourists.

DSC_0550.jpg

There it was, the Victory Star cruise ship. There are many cruise ships to choose from, ranging in size from small to big. Trip durations from one to three days are available. We chose this ship because it wasn't too big. Cozy, but not so small that we would be worried about safety.

DSC_0949.jpg

After a very nice welcome and introduction to the crew, we checked-in to our room. From the little balcony, we could see Bai Chay bridge and Hon Gai Port. And then our journey began.

DSC_0557.jpg

When we were ready for lunch, our table was waiting for us. My husband used the US passport and I used my Vietnamese passport, so they put two flags on our table. I'm not a fan of categorizing people so I don't take this as a positive thing. We're on a vacation, not on a UN meeting. But through this, we learned the rest of the guests were from Europe.

DSC_0602.jpg

The view was beautiful, the staff was very nice, and the food was fresh and tasty. You can see that on my face.

IMG_20150210.jpg

After lunch, we took a walk to check out the view from the deck. The water was super calm and beautiful.

DSC_0616.jpg

It was a bit chilly and misty.

DSC_0645.jpg

There we were, looking at sights we'd never seen before. Mother nature is amazing.

DSC_0663.jpg

Then we went back to our room to get ready for a little trip to see a floating fishing village.

DSC_0740.jpg

Our room was the Presidential Suite. It was decorated in warm tones, contrasting with the cool temperature of Ha Long Bay. Not too big, and not too small. It made me feel warm and cozy as we were moving away from the mainland.

DSC_0912.jpg

Our suite had two private balconies. One next to the bed,

DSC_0928.jpg

and the other was connected to the front of the boat.

DSC_0931.jpg

We didn't use the balconies as much as I wanted because we spent most of our time venturing out, away from the ship to explore all that Ha Long Bay had to offer.

DSC_0943.jpg

To be continued...

My next post will be about the beauty of the bay. Hope to see you then.

Thanks so much for your time, my friends.
Have a great day!

Love,
@dewdrop

Sort:  

nice backdrops and great place to spend your almost second honeymoon. presidential suite!! wooot...

Thanks! Yeah, after years of 24/7 parental job, you're going to need that.

Wow!! The place is so nice!! Thanks for sharing I love reading travel blogs with captured photos that are really good!❤️ wanna go there too❤️

Hey! Thanks so much Honey 😍.

I just got back from a South East Asia trip including Vietnam. Unfortunately, due to the finicky weather this time of year, I didn't get a chance to make it north to Hanoi and Halong bay. The south was still incredibly pleasant and I would highly recommend it. Did you get a chance to check out Hoi Ann on your trip? It was by far my favorite city in Vietnam of the ones I was lucky enough to visit. Great post btw : )

Hi there! Nice to meet you Sir Bombadil. 😁 Thanks so much for your nice comment. I'm from the South actually. It's funny I haven't been to Hoi An yet. Every time going back, I'm just thinking about seafood and beaches. 😃

That's awesome, I love Vietnam! Out of all the countries I've visited it really stands out, especially because of the food. What I would give for a delicious Banh mi or some Pho Ga right now! The foods got my mouth watering just thinking about it. I guess it's time for me to get something for dinner haha

You're so funny. Hahaha. It's 1.30 am here and I'm hungry too.

I loved Vietnam. I'm not sure I'd go back to Halong bay though. We ended up with a really dodgy provider...they even tried to bunk a friend of mine with a random guy. Even though she had booked a private room. I loved the scenery though. Incredible.

Hi Jfolkmann! Nice to meet you! Thanks for your comment. Sorry about that. We had that same experience once too but not in Ha Long though. We said no but that made the whole trip uncomfortable.

Very nice shots and description of the resort. I'm planning to go to Japan within a year or so, never been to Asia...

Thanks, Glenn! That will be exciting. 😃

Lâu lắm mới thấy c post bài. Chỉ khổ em thỉnh thoảng vào blog chị mà k thấy gì để vote haha

Nếu c biết sớm em là đại gia thì c đã đăng nhiều bài cho em vote rồi. Hahaha.

đại gia nửa mùa chị ơi. haha. em đang lease SP thôi. nợ nần lắm rồi đây :)))

Em lạc quan vậy tốt lắm rồi. Đẹp gái mà còn biết làm ăn nữa chứ. Hehe

em đang admin group "steemit việt nam" trên fb. chị join k? haha. để hnao chị về Vietnam thì để em sắp xếp meet up giữa Vietnamese steemian vs Việt-kiều steemian. lol

Hahaha. C ít dùng fb lắm. Chắc lâu lắm c mới ra Hà Nội nữa em ơi. Để rãnh c vô tag vn kết bạn 😉.

hahaa. vâng. thế lúc nào e tổ chức meet up ở Saigon thì em thông báo. tham gia dc thì giam gia chị nhé. :)))

I saw something similar through kyle.net, the blogger.

These pictures look wonderful. I like how you cropped the photos. I want to return here a second time to experience the boat stay. This looks so relaxing. I'm quite jealous. haha. I was aware there was a steemit meetup in Hanoi earlier this month.

Hey! Thanks! I thought you've been there before. So happy you enjoy the pictures because I spent many hours editing them. Haha. Yeah! I saw the meetup too.

Long time no see :). Beautiful pics @dewdrop! After seeing the pics, thought so that you could have been on vacation but these are from 2015.
The scenery is really breathtaking and nicely shot too. Keep posting, keep sharing...

Hi The Mystic! Thanks so much! So happy you like them. The cold season had been too much for me. I'm better now and will try to post more. Thanks! 😊

Glad you are feeling better. You should keep Emergen C handy after the fall season , it works within the family here :). We try to avoid flu-shots and drink Vitamin C often.
Anyways keep posting good stuff as always. Cheers!!!

We avoided flu shots too. I thought it will go away in a few days but I've been coughing since Christmas. The funny thing is I didn't lose any weight 😄. Thanks for your tips. Have a good day 😊.

You are welcome. One more quick natural tip for coughing is Dry Ginger powder in pure Honey. Also you can try Cepacol throat lozenges for Cough/Sore Throat, it's available over the counter. No comments of weight 😄. Get well soon. Keep steeming... Cheers!

Aww...you guys are so nice 😍. Thanks so much! I do eat a lot of raw gingers 😉. Organic ginger is hard to find though. I'll look for it again at Whole Foods tomorrow. Thanks again, my friend! 😊

Fantastic photography
Resteem service

Hi! That's very nice of you. Thanks so much!

This post has been deemed resteem & upvote worthy by your friendly @eastcoaststeem ran by Steemian @chelsea88

Thanks so much, Chelsea! You're awesome! 😉

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.26
TRX 0.24
JST 0.038
BTC 95392.30
ETH 3285.89
USDT 1.00
SBD 3.39