Boarding our Chinese Junk

Sunday, May 31, 2015
Halong Bay, Đà N, Vietnam
Temperature seems to have eased a bit today. After breakfast, our driver arrives to takes us on the 3 1/2 hour drive to the coast of Vietnam in Halong Bay. Super interesting drive thru villages & local towns. We made a stop in a local village for lunch and a water puppet show (organized by the cruise company). Lunch was excellent and it was interesting to see the water puppets show presented in an outdoor setting.
We reached Halong Bay around 1:30pm and took the tender out to board the Dragon Pearl (our Chinese junk) . There are 10 cabins and a total of 20 guests on this 3 day cruise. Cabins are compact but well air-conditioned and super nice.
We started cruising thru the spectacular scenery of Halong Bay which took our breath away. By 4pm we had reached the bay where we were anchoring for the night. We were rewarded for our efforts during the chef's Vietnamese cooking class with fried spring rolls. Then we boarded 2 person kayaks for a one hour paddle to explore the area. Vic & Gabrielle elected to do their own thing but Alyssa & I (Alyssa was the only female skipper & did a fantastic job!) followed the guide. Words and even pictures, fail to capture the stunning beauty and sheer magnitude of the cliffs.
A quick swim in the water (a hot 23 degrees) was followed by showers before supper at 7:30pm. The 10 course meal (yes, ten courses!) was exceptional. So many new tastes: fried corn kernels, morning glory salad, fried oyster, clams & pineapple, coyo...
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Comments

Andrea
2015-06-11

Sooooooo amazing! i hope to be able to make a similar trip in my lifetime.

2025-02-11

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