Vietnam Trip - Day 1 at Ha Long Bay :)

The famous limestone rock formation as printed in VND200,000 note

Ha Long literally means "descending dragon". It was said that there was a legend behind the place. It was a UNESCO World Heritage Site too. To be honest, before the trip I had no idea what Ha Long Bay would look like. I just had a glance view of it before and preferred to let myself be awed with its magnificent view. In my travelling experience, I did this a lot, especially when going to places arranged by travel agent. Lack of time to do research was one thing. Leave things flow naturally and let myself be awed by it were the other reasons. So, same like my experience with Ha Long Bay this time.

The weather was another thing I missed to check before going. Hahahaha... Since I did some research for writing this blog, I only found out now that September was not the favorable time to visit Ha Long Bay since the chance to rain was high. Lol... But I could not do anything too since my time schedule had been packed with other traveling plans and only had this 6-day slot, exactly on these days, available. And I would not mind with rain. I would not mind with hot weather. It had been part of my life almost every day living in Singapore. And again, nothing was certain. Nothing was permanent.

Rain would not fall whole day. The sun might appear, and those two might even create the beautiful rainbow. So, leave this naturally, with the flow, expect the worse, and hope for the best, were the mentality I always holding to whenever going for traveling. I loved surprised. I loved the unexpected circumstances. I loved changes. Because it was only natural that those things happening in our lives. Without challenges in life, I would not know my limit, how much I could endure, how much I could accept, how would I handle it, gracefully, or with anger. 

Yeah, that was how I started writing this for my one-night stayover in the Ha Long Bay :)

How I captured it ^^"

P.S. I did not even know that the limestone rock formation was printed in the VND200,000 note until the second day I was in the cruise. I even forgot to ask the cruise guide, where was the formation rock located. And later on, I found out that actually I had my picture with it without realizing its existence and that too, was taken very far away and shown a very small picture. Hahahaha..... :P

We took about 3 hours to reach Ha Long Bay port by taking the limousine van. Jacky said, after Covid-19, the mode of transport for traveling had changed to limousine van. I was not sure what tourists took before that though. But he kept asking me to take photo of the inside of the van. Perhaps he too, never took this van as passengers before, so not sure how his customers would feel - whether they were comfortable, were they enjoying the ride and facilities, and so on.

Typical limousine van for transfer in Hanoi, Vietnam

In some van we took, the USB charging port that each seat had at the side, was working. But in some van, it was not. So there was no consistency in it and we could not rely much on the charging facility provided. There were 3 rows at the back, with two-seat each in the first two rows and three-seat at the back row. Another passenger would be seated in front seat, next to the driver. Therefore, a maximum of 8 passengers could be taken at each journey.

We reached early at about 11.30am. However, the weather was not good. It was raining heavily. Everyone was just waiting under cover until the rain turned lighter. Small boat came and went to pick and send the passengers from the cruises that were parked not far from the port. Our turn was finally came too around an hour later. We were transferred to our cruise, called Syrena.

Once reached the cruise, we went to the third floor where all passengers were gathered for the welcome and safety briefing. After that we were given key to our room. Passengers' rooms were located at first and second floor but mostly we were all staying at second floor. We headed to our room with our bags and checking the facilities, making sure that all was working well. 

I think all room had small balcony, but we seldom went outside because there was kerosene smell and hot air when we were standing there. Overall we had a nice, comfortable, and most importantly, at least for me, clean room. The bathroom had wooden floor, which was unusual. I loved staying there. The air-conditioner had been turned on before we entered. It was cool and nice.

After freshen up, we went upstairs again to have our lunch. It was six different dishes and ended with a plate of dessert to share. My friend and I ordered a cup of coffee each to finish our lunch and sat outside while enjoying the view surrounding us. By then the rain had stopped. It was so relaxing and enjoyable.

At around 3.30pm we left the cruise and was transferred with a small boat to visit our first stop - the Surprising Cave or Hang Sung Sot. On our way we could see many amazing shapes of the limestone, as a result of 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments (see the picture below).

Various limestone rock formation that resembled animals - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

There were around 59 caves found surrounding the Ha Long Bay, but Sung Sot was the largest. It was formed since 520-470 million BC. The size and view inside was really unbelievable and living up to its name.

The view inside the Sung Sot Cave - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Everyone who entered was awed by it. They were woo waa non-stop, entering different parts of the caves. All was offering different shapes and view. They used camera to take picture and video, remembering the view and moments, sharing it with their loved ones.

Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

After that we visited Ti Top Island, not far from the cave. In the island, we were given option to climb up around 450 steps to see the panoramic view from of the Ha Long Bay the top and/ or to swim and/ or play volleyball or just relaxing at the base. The island was named after Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov on the occasion of his first visit to Ha Long Bay in 1962.

Activities at Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We had a great time there from the climbing and watching our fellow friends playing beach ball at the seaside. We went back to our cruise after that to catch the happy hour drink promotion time hahahaha.... :P

Wrap spring roll activities taught by Mr. Tam - Syrena Cruise at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Before dinner started, there was a fun lesson conducted by Mr. Tam, our cruise guide, how to wrap the Vietnamese roll. All of us was given a chance to try. After that they fried it and served it for us for dinner. They served buffet for dinner.

Our buffet dinner and happy hour beer. Yo!!! Means Cheerssss.... :D

Most dishes tasted good. Desserts too. I tried Halong Sapphire beer and triple 3 (333) beer on board. We had a relaxing dinner after a long day. We even made friend with other group after those trips. There was fish catch activity at night after dinner, which was actually just wasting of time because it was really difficult to catch one. Hahaha... But it gave us a chance to chat with other people including the cruise crew.

After taking bath, I headed to the top deck. There I joined other for a drink. They bought so many beers and wine and shared it with me. I drank, listened to them, chatted sometimes, and enjoying the night breeze and moon view on top of the sky. I felt really blessed and grateful for being there. Thank you, thank you, and thank you SB for giving me the opportunity to travel to many places in the world, for being there, at the moment. To be continued....