Xin Cáo again! Here's the second installment of my Hanoi trip. On the second day, we took the Halong Bay tour. This was booked in advance, about a week before we left. Halong Bay is a must see if you ever go to Hanoi, as all of the places in the city are all museums and temples or things like that. So, for variety, and for a chance to go outside Hanoi, we booked this tour. It cost 44USD per person, which I think is okay, because you only go to Hanoi once and that's it! :-) This was to cover entrance fees to all the places that we were going to visit. We booked ours with Viator, and for a full list of their available tours, click here.
Since our hotel was not located in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, hotel pick up was not to be included. We were given the option to pay an additional 3USD per person per way, which for me was a bit too much since we already paid that amount, or we can just go to their office to be picked up there. I chose the latter, and thought we could just take a taxi to their office. To my delight, the operator sent me an email that they will just pick us up in the morning free of charge from the hotel, and it will just be on the way back that we'd have to worry about. That was very nice of them. So of course, I readily agreed and thanked them profusely. Talk about favor on us the second time! First time was the room upgrade in the previous article.
We took this coach, and since we were the farthest, we were the first ones to be picked up- they picked us up from the hotel at 7:30 in the morning, went to Old Quarter and went around the whole place picking up the other participants of the tour. Our group consisted of Filipinos which was us, a group of Americans, a couple of Singaporeans, a group of Japanese and a group of French. So we were an international group. We filled up a coach, and since we were the first ones on the bus, we got to choose where we sat. :-)
Travel time from Hanoi to Halong Bay is nearly four hours, and there is a rest stop in between. The tour includes of course the bus to and from Halong Bay, the boat ride, lunch, a visit to a fishing village, and on the fishing village a small boat ride to explore and take pictures, and a visit to a cave. All in all, the tour itself in Halong Bay takes about 3 hours to complete, and the rest of the day is spent traveling to and fro.
Halong Bay is located in Quang Ninh province in Vietnam. The name Ha Long is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese, which means descending dragon.
When we got to Halong Bay, we just had a toilet break as the guide purchased our tickets, and after that we immediately went to the harbor to board. We took one of these boats, and when we boarded, our group was joined by an Indonesian group to fill the boat to capacity. Each table that was set for lunch was set for 6, and since we were only four, we were joined by two Indonesian men who enjoyed exchanging common words we have in their language. They also shared their love of Tagalog songs and they know a lot of our singers! :-)
This was our boat. Lunch was included, and as soon as we were organized and seated, lunch was immediately served, because by that time it was already past noon. We left Hanoi around 9 am after all that going around picking up other passengers. Lunch was mostly seafood dishes and some vegetables, but the food was not much to my liking save the prawns and some stir fried vegetables. Other dishes included fried tilapia and stir fried squid, two things I don't eat. I just ate a little so as not to starve, and as soon as we finished eating, we went up to the sundeck to take pictures. It was a good thing we bought sausages at the rest stop and ate something. :-)
It was the hottest time of the day, and I had to wear a light cardigan so as not to get burned by the blazing sun. My niece, for the sake of OOTDs, got sunburned in the face. Peace Eunice! Ha ha ha!
This was what we came to see. The only bad thing was that it was hazy when we were there. In fact, for the duration of our trip, it was hazy not just in Halong but in Hanoi as well. Not sure if it was because it was autumn, or the smog was coming in from neighboring China. Whatever the case is, there was no day that we ever had a clear day.
According to legend, when Vietnam was just developing into a country, they had to fight against invaders. To assist the Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders.
If you do look at this picture above, it does look like a wall. To continue the legend. Under magic, numerous rock mountains abruptly appeared on the sea, ahead of the invaders' ships, the forward ships struck the rocks and each other. After winning the battle, the dragons were interested in peaceful sighseeing on the earth, hence they decided to live in this bay. Or so goes the legend. Quite interesting, eh? :-)
You see the small islet in the middle? The one with a hole at the bottom? They say this resembles an incense burner, and it is actually featured in the 200,000 VND bill. A lot of the land formations have stories on their own, there was even one that resembles two roosters fighting each other- I was just too slow in taking a picture of it when we passed it by while the guide was talking about it. After lunch was over and we took a lot of pictures at the sundeck, we arrived at the fishing village.
Before we arrived at the fishing village, we were informed beforehand that we would not see a lot of fishing boats, as during that time of the day they are out fishing. We were told that a boat can have as many as 7 people living in it, and children, if any, do not go to school. They spend the whole day fishing, and when they are done, they go to Halong port to sell the fish they caught. What we see in the picture above are the small boats that we took as we explored the land formations closer.
Upon disembarking from the boat, we were given a choice, to kayak, or to ride a wooden boat to explore the area more. Kayaking was not an option for us, of course, as we did not know how to row, and we might capsize, ha ha ha. So since we were four, we were the perfect group, so we boarded one and a lady was towing our boat.
Several people from our group chose to do kayaking- they were able, so they enjoyed it. We enjoyed our boat ride taking pictures and not having to row at all. Ha ha.
We went through this 'tunnel' and on the other side are more land formations. Our guide said those who farm in Vietnam or do jobs like these are women, because their husbands are in the big cities to work as drivers, waiters and any other job they could find that pays more to feed their families. It is like in the Philippines as well, where the poor are very poor, and the rich are very rich.
Our lady rower did not just row our boat, she even took pictures of us, just saying 'ey, ey' and demonstrating how we should pose for the pictures. She took nice ones, and at the end of the boat ride, we gave her a tip for being so nice.
We had a nice time looking at the land formations, and we definitely took a lot of pictures, esp my nieces, who planned their OOTDs for each day we were there, ha ha ha! Instagram junkies, they are. :-) The young and the young at heart.
This is the jetty where we had to ride the small boats, and my sister bought a Vietnamese hat to shield her face from the harsh sunlight. I just had to make do with my hand and sunglasses.
We were required to wear lifejackets throughout the boat ride, but as you can see in the pictures above, the kind lady who was rowing our boat kindly let us remove them for the sake of taking pictures, ha ha ha!
It's very obvious that we love taking pictures, no? Especially now that I am writing blogs, I try to take a lot of pictures so that I can tell the story of each place that we visit. That way, even if my readers cannot go to that certain place, it would be the same like being there themselves by looking at the pictures and reading the descriptions and all other information I share.
After almost an hour, the exploration ended, we boarded our boat again to visit the Dong Thien Cung cave, which, according to our guide is the most beautiful cave in Halong. Dong Thien Cung literally means heavenly Palace Cave, and it is found southwest of Halong Bay.
The cave is inside this mountain, and we had to climb it in order to see it. According to our guide, this cave was accidentally, or should I say providentially discovered by a group of fishermen trying to take shelter from a big storm. So the storm was raging, and they had to find a place where they could find shelter or risk losing their lives.
So they came to this mountain, and as they were taking shelter, they decided to look for food to survive the next few days while the storm raged. They saw several monkeys, and when they tried to catch the monkeys, the animals moved inwards the mountain. They followed them, and came upon this beautiful cave.
The cave was discovered in 1990, after that the government installed lights inside the cave, made it so that access to it would be a lot easier for tourists, and it was opened to the public a year later. This is the dock where we had to get off, and start the trek upwards.
They constructed stairs for easier climbing, but it was a lot of steps so it could be quite challenging for the elderly or those with knee problems. Midway along the upward hike, there is a viewing deck, which you can see several pictures above this one.
From that vantage point, you see the dock, and the port they built. Here you see their efforts to improve tourism to the area, which is one of the main livelihood of the people there.
This is the entrance of the cave. It is quite narrow and unassuming, but once you get inside, you get greeted by various stalagmites and stalactites of various shapes and sizes all you can say is 'wow'.
Just to refresh our memories regarding the terms. Stalactite is an icicle-shaped formation that hangs from the ceiling of a cave, produced by precipitation of minerals from water dripping through the cave ceiling. A stalagmite, on the other hand, is a rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from the ceiling drippings.
Stalactites and stalagmites take millions of years to grow, so imagine how long this cave has existed, and its beauty hidden from the world until it was discovered not many years ago. All of my photos were taken by my iPhone 6 this time. I know, I still don't use a proper camera.
Our guide encouraged us to use our imaginations as he shared stories about certain shapes the rocks formed, some in the shape of animals, some in the shape of a couple getting married, afterwards having children and so on. :-)
This he said, was a group of villagers who 'attended the wedding' of the man and the woman shapes in the cave. And if you do use your imagination, they kind of look like it.
Colored lights were installed inside the caves, which adds to the dramatic effect of the stalactites and stalagmites.
As we went through the cave, our guide kept sharing about the various formations, what shape they resemble and the folklore stories that go with it, so it was quite entertaining and informative at the same time.
If I remember correctly, this stalactite is that of the woman in her wedding dress. Or I could be mistaken. My memory is not serving me well. It was humid inside the cave, but it was not too humid so as to feel suffocated or be sweaty.
The most famous formation inside the cave though is this stalagmite. Can you guess what shape it resembles? They say it is that of the female breast, and legend has it that if you are breastfeeding, and you touch this stalagmite, you will surely have plenty of milk supply for your baby. Ha ha ha!
There were a lot more formations but of course I cannot share them all here. After almost an hour, we got to the exit of the cave.
This is the exit, and it is located on the other side of the mountain. It was so nice looking at all the formations, and we were glad we took this tour and were able to see one of nature's beautiful gift to mankind.
Going down was a lot easier and faster of course. There were also stairs, but after having seen that amazing cave, the stairs were of no significance, so to speak.
In the middle of the downward journey was another viewing deck, and this was what we got to see. Halong Bay with some boats docked, waiting for their passengers to board and go to their other destinations for the day.
This is another view. Looks very peaceful, just looking at the serene waters and the green islets. No wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This picture shows the horizon beyond and we see buildings and the outlying islands. After that we had to board the boat again, to go back to Halong Bay port and immediately return to Hanoi.
We left Hanoi shortly after 4 PM, and we arrived in Hanoi shortly after 8 PM. We had a stop along the way and we had some snacks, and we bought beef bánh mi, a type of sandwich in a small baguette.
In this kind of bánh mi, they stir fried the beef with a lot of onions, then they put some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. I wish they put more cucumbers though. Then we added ketchup, chili sauce, or in this case, even mayonnaise.
All in all, the Halong Bay trip was very nice, and I could say it was actually the highlight of our trip. We got off at the Old Quarter, had some dinner, then took a taxi back to the hotel to get some much needed rest after all that climbing.
I will end this post here, and please look forward for the next installment!
You can read more travel articles here.
Since our hotel was not located in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, hotel pick up was not to be included. We were given the option to pay an additional 3USD per person per way, which for me was a bit too much since we already paid that amount, or we can just go to their office to be picked up there. I chose the latter, and thought we could just take a taxi to their office. To my delight, the operator sent me an email that they will just pick us up in the morning free of charge from the hotel, and it will just be on the way back that we'd have to worry about. That was very nice of them. So of course, I readily agreed and thanked them profusely. Talk about favor on us the second time! First time was the room upgrade in the previous article.
We took this coach, and since we were the farthest, we were the first ones to be picked up- they picked us up from the hotel at 7:30 in the morning, went to Old Quarter and went around the whole place picking up the other participants of the tour. Our group consisted of Filipinos which was us, a group of Americans, a couple of Singaporeans, a group of Japanese and a group of French. So we were an international group. We filled up a coach, and since we were the first ones on the bus, we got to choose where we sat. :-)
Travel time from Hanoi to Halong Bay is nearly four hours, and there is a rest stop in between. The tour includes of course the bus to and from Halong Bay, the boat ride, lunch, a visit to a fishing village, and on the fishing village a small boat ride to explore and take pictures, and a visit to a cave. All in all, the tour itself in Halong Bay takes about 3 hours to complete, and the rest of the day is spent traveling to and fro.
Halong Bay is located in Quang Ninh province in Vietnam. The name Ha Long is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese, which means descending dragon.
 |
This was our boat. Lunch was included, and as soon as we were organized and seated, lunch was immediately served, because by that time it was already past noon. We left Hanoi around 9 am after all that going around picking up other passengers. Lunch was mostly seafood dishes and some vegetables, but the food was not much to my liking save the prawns and some stir fried vegetables. Other dishes included fried tilapia and stir fried squid, two things I don't eat. I just ate a little so as not to starve, and as soon as we finished eating, we went up to the sundeck to take pictures. It was a good thing we bought sausages at the rest stop and ate something. :-)
 |
| with my younger niece |
This was what we came to see. The only bad thing was that it was hazy when we were there. In fact, for the duration of our trip, it was hazy not just in Halong but in Hanoi as well. Not sure if it was because it was autumn, or the smog was coming in from neighboring China. Whatever the case is, there was no day that we ever had a clear day.
According to legend, when Vietnam was just developing into a country, they had to fight against invaders. To assist the Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders.
You see the small islet in the middle? The one with a hole at the bottom? They say this resembles an incense burner, and it is actually featured in the 200,000 VND bill. A lot of the land formations have stories on their own, there was even one that resembles two roosters fighting each other- I was just too slow in taking a picture of it when we passed it by while the guide was talking about it. After lunch was over and we took a lot of pictures at the sundeck, we arrived at the fishing village.
 |
| Fishing Village |
Upon disembarking from the boat, we were given a choice, to kayak, or to ride a wooden boat to explore the area more. Kayaking was not an option for us, of course, as we did not know how to row, and we might capsize, ha ha ha. So since we were four, we were the perfect group, so we boarded one and a lady was towing our boat.
Several people from our group chose to do kayaking- they were able, so they enjoyed it. We enjoyed our boat ride taking pictures and not having to row at all. Ha ha.
We went through this 'tunnel' and on the other side are more land formations. Our guide said those who farm in Vietnam or do jobs like these are women, because their husbands are in the big cities to work as drivers, waiters and any other job they could find that pays more to feed their families. It is like in the Philippines as well, where the poor are very poor, and the rich are very rich.
Our lady rower did not just row our boat, she even took pictures of us, just saying 'ey, ey' and demonstrating how we should pose for the pictures. She took nice ones, and at the end of the boat ride, we gave her a tip for being so nice.
We had a nice time looking at the land formations, and we definitely took a lot of pictures, esp my nieces, who planned their OOTDs for each day we were there, ha ha ha! Instagram junkies, they are. :-) The young and the young at heart.
This is the jetty where we had to ride the small boats, and my sister bought a Vietnamese hat to shield her face from the harsh sunlight. I just had to make do with my hand and sunglasses.
We were required to wear lifejackets throughout the boat ride, but as you can see in the pictures above, the kind lady who was rowing our boat kindly let us remove them for the sake of taking pictures, ha ha ha!
It's very obvious that we love taking pictures, no? Especially now that I am writing blogs, I try to take a lot of pictures so that I can tell the story of each place that we visit. That way, even if my readers cannot go to that certain place, it would be the same like being there themselves by looking at the pictures and reading the descriptions and all other information I share.
 |
| our boat |
The cave is inside this mountain, and we had to climb it in order to see it. According to our guide, this cave was accidentally, or should I say providentially discovered by a group of fishermen trying to take shelter from a big storm. So the storm was raging, and they had to find a place where they could find shelter or risk losing their lives.
So they came to this mountain, and as they were taking shelter, they decided to look for food to survive the next few days while the storm raged. They saw several monkeys, and when they tried to catch the monkeys, the animals moved inwards the mountain. They followed them, and came upon this beautiful cave.
The cave was discovered in 1990, after that the government installed lights inside the cave, made it so that access to it would be a lot easier for tourists, and it was opened to the public a year later. This is the dock where we had to get off, and start the trek upwards.
They constructed stairs for easier climbing, but it was a lot of steps so it could be quite challenging for the elderly or those with knee problems. Midway along the upward hike, there is a viewing deck, which you can see several pictures above this one.
From that vantage point, you see the dock, and the port they built. Here you see their efforts to improve tourism to the area, which is one of the main livelihood of the people there.
This is the entrance of the cave. It is quite narrow and unassuming, but once you get inside, you get greeted by various stalagmites and stalactites of various shapes and sizes all you can say is 'wow'.
 |
| some stalactites |
Just to refresh our memories regarding the terms. Stalactite is an icicle-shaped formation that hangs from the ceiling of a cave, produced by precipitation of minerals from water dripping through the cave ceiling. A stalagmite, on the other hand, is a rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from the ceiling drippings.
Stalactites and stalagmites take millions of years to grow, so imagine how long this cave has existed, and its beauty hidden from the world until it was discovered not many years ago. All of my photos were taken by my iPhone 6 this time. I know, I still don't use a proper camera.
Our guide encouraged us to use our imaginations as he shared stories about certain shapes the rocks formed, some in the shape of animals, some in the shape of a couple getting married, afterwards having children and so on. :-)
This he said, was a group of villagers who 'attended the wedding' of the man and the woman shapes in the cave. And if you do use your imagination, they kind of look like it.
Colored lights were installed inside the caves, which adds to the dramatic effect of the stalactites and stalagmites.
As we went through the cave, our guide kept sharing about the various formations, what shape they resemble and the folklore stories that go with it, so it was quite entertaining and informative at the same time.
If I remember correctly, this stalactite is that of the woman in her wedding dress. Or I could be mistaken. My memory is not serving me well. It was humid inside the cave, but it was not too humid so as to feel suffocated or be sweaty.
 |
There were a lot more formations but of course I cannot share them all here. After almost an hour, we got to the exit of the cave.
This is the exit, and it is located on the other side of the mountain. It was so nice looking at all the formations, and we were glad we took this tour and were able to see one of nature's beautiful gift to mankind.
Going down was a lot easier and faster of course. There were also stairs, but after having seen that amazing cave, the stairs were of no significance, so to speak.
In the middle of the downward journey was another viewing deck, and this was what we got to see. Halong Bay with some boats docked, waiting for their passengers to board and go to their other destinations for the day.
This is another view. Looks very peaceful, just looking at the serene waters and the green islets. No wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This picture shows the horizon beyond and we see buildings and the outlying islands. After that we had to board the boat again, to go back to Halong Bay port and immediately return to Hanoi.
We left Hanoi shortly after 4 PM, and we arrived in Hanoi shortly after 8 PM. We had a stop along the way and we had some snacks, and we bought beef bánh mi, a type of sandwich in a small baguette.
In this kind of bánh mi, they stir fried the beef with a lot of onions, then they put some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. I wish they put more cucumbers though. Then we added ketchup, chili sauce, or in this case, even mayonnaise.
All in all, the Halong Bay trip was very nice, and I could say it was actually the highlight of our trip. We got off at the Old Quarter, had some dinner, then took a taxi back to the hotel to get some much needed rest after all that climbing.
I will end this post here, and please look forward for the next installment!
You can read more travel articles here.
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