hanoi: halong bay cruise

on the second day, early in the morning we set off for our luxury cruise. allow
me to say 'luxury' because we paid about USD170 each. so! it must be luxurious! hahaha. anyway, b4 we could board the cruise we had to take a 3 hour journey on the road to the pier. and at the pier there was some communication breakdown and we had wasted a bit of time: us waiting for the boat manager, and the manager likewise. not knowing each was already there.

so of cos we spent some time... cam-whoring!





the cruise was good. nice food - two buffets and one full menu lunch. the bay was beautiful & very peaceful with the rocks & caves dotting the coast line. we spent about an hour kayaking, a very good way of immersing in the tranquility of the bay. there was a moment where I almost bump face first into a gigantic rock while kayaking, because it was so dark and we couldn't see anything in the cave. phew! almost disfigured! lol.

we also climbed a lot of steps to go up a viewing point which was the highest point in halong bay to catch the bird's eye view of the beautiful scenery. 437 steps. and 100+ steps at another location. plus the kayaking. so I guess our buffet was justified? :P

more photos will be uploaded on FB. giving jer the honour of uploading the pics. so I will wait till he does then I compile my own albums, telling more about our experience. more posts to come! still a lot more to share (:








legend has it that when the Chinese invaded Vietnam long ago, the gods sent down dragons to help them. the dragons spitted jade & jewel that became the islands and islets now found along the bay. these formed a wall and a barrier against the approaching enemies and the Vietnamese were saved. The place where the Mother Dragon landed was now known as - Ha Long Bay.

While we climbed steps to one of the highest viewing point in Ha Long Bay, we also went to a cave rich in history and geology. Apparently the cave dates back to millions of years ago, and evidence were found that cavemen once lived in the very cave we went. Millions of years ago, Ha Long Bay was deep sea. evolution and erosion over time (and we mean a really long time here) created the beautiful place that it is today.