For our overnight cruise of Halong Bay, we booked Tropical Sails' Lagoon Explorer |
Berths were not available on the days we wanted, so we reversed our trip and went first to Ninh Binh, then Cat Ba Island |
To get from Cat Ba Island to Halong City, our agent arranged a private boat for the three hour crossing |
The agency chartered "The Long" - a very large boat for 2 passengers |
Cabin of The Long |
Cruising by the floating village leaving Ben Beo Harbor on Cat Ba Island |
As it turned out, our Lagoon Explorer trip cancelled and we were put on a standard boat |
Had we known that, we could have stuck with our original itinerary leaving Hanoi for Halong Bay |
Better would have been to use Cat Ba Island as our base and visit Halong Bay as a day cruise from Cat Ba |
A small temple on a beach off the east coast of Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay |
We did not see many structures built on land in Halong Bay |
Vietnamese training ship Sao Bien, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
"The Long" needed deck chairs on the roof |
Trinh Vu 19 - a Halong Bay day boat for excursions from Cat Ba Island |
The seawater has eroded the limestone formations in Halong Bay |
Kayakers, Halong Bay |
Exploring Halong Bay by kayak looked like a good option |
Free-standing limestone pillar, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay - a UNESCO World Heritage Site |
Free standing pillar slightly reminicient of James Bond Island, Phangnga Bay, Thailand |
Trinh Vu 19 on a Halong Bay cruise from Ben Beo Harbor, Cat Ba Island |
The bottom of the islet has totally eroded |
Kayakers, Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Fishing boat and a distinctive islet |
A group of kayakers paddling Halong Bay |
Halong Bay is made up of nearly 2000 islands |
Our boat and the excursion boat part ways, Halong Bay |
The Long, Halong Bay, headed for Hon Gai |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
A large bulk cargo carrier either loading or unloading onto smaller cargo vessels |
Monolithic limestone island, Halong Bay |
Small cargo vessel, Halong Bay |
Crewman washing, Halong Bay |
Arriving in Hon Gai on the north side of Halong Bay |
Fishing boat with nets spread leaving Hon Gai |
Vinashin RD-Paxline, 3-star cruise ship "Hoa Sen" moored at Hon Gai |
Hon Gai, Vietnam |
Market hall, Hon Gai |
Row boat, Hon Gai harbor |
Port of Hon Gai - Quang Ninh 28 and 29 |
Port of Hon Gai - Quang Ninh 28 and 29 |
Dolphin shaped garbage can, Hon Gai |
The Long dropped us off behind the Halong Wonder Restaurant, Hon Gai |
We were told there would be someone there to meet us |
We waited and no one came, so we called the office in Hanoi, and finally the Tropical Sails people arrived |
Tropical Sails told us that the Lagoon Explorer was out of commission for maintenance and we would be put on another boat |
Vinaphone, Hon Gai |
Roundabout, Hon Gai |
Mosaic chicken in a roundabout, Hon Gai |
Mosaic deer ina roundabout, Hon Gai |
HIV awareness billboard, Hon Gai |
Steeple of the church, Hon Gai |
Hon Gai |
Goc Quynh Hotel, Hon Gai |
Modern glass tower, 169 Le Thanh Tong, Hon Gai |
Inflatable festive dragon arch, Vinashin dock, Hon Gai - next to Tropical Sails |
Crossing the new Bai Chay Bridge to Halong City |
The hugely chaotic main tourist port for Halong Bay at Bai Chay, Halong City |
You have to cross several other boats to reach yours |
Rooftop deck of the Binh Minh |
"Walmart Boat" Bai Chay tourist port, Halong City |
Hong Long day cruise boat, Halong City |
Vietnamese flag and the Bai Chay tourist port, Halong City |
Dining room of an adjacent vessel, Bai Chay port |
The very busy Bai Chay tourist port, Halong City |
Bai Tho 68 day excursion boat, Halong Bay |
Two Halong Bay boats tied up, Bai Chay |
Hotel district, Bai Chay, Halong City |
Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City |
The Binh Minh, the replacement for the Lagoon Explorer |
Cabin of the Binh Minh - nice enough, except for the generator directly beneath the bed |
Coastal freighter, Halong Bay |
Coastal freighter, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
Entrance to a small cave, Halong Bay |
Halong "where the dragon descends into the sea" |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
Near vertical monolithic limestone islands, Halong Bay |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
We got lucky and the day cleared nicely |
Halong Bay |
The bow of our boat, the Binh Minh, Halong Bay |
We stopped at one of the fish farms for the chef to pick up dinner |
Fish farm, Halong Bay |
Fish farm, Halong Bay |
Crabs, fish farm, Halong Bay |
We'll see these squirming beauties later |
Cuttle fish, Halong Bay |
The Walmart Boat, just in case the dinner selection scared you |
...a box of Oreos doesn't sound like a bad idea |
The captain of the Walmart Boat, Halong Bay |
Bai Tho 62 tourist boat, Halong Bay |
Picturesque Halong Bay |
A very nice sectino of Halong Bay |
Passing an interesting rock formation, Halong Bay |
This formation probably has a name... |
The formation from the other direction |
Tourist day cruise boat, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay is definitely worth the trip |
Passing close to one of the limestone islands, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
Long shot of "Kissing Rocks" Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
Tourist boat, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Huong Hai Junk, Halong Bay |
Three-masted Bai Tho tourist boat, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Tourist boat dwarfed by the magestic stone islands, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Unlike the other floating villages, houses here are connected to each other |
Flag of Vietnam, Halong Bay |
Vietnamese flag on our boat |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Fishing boat arriving at a floating village, Halong Bay |
Vietnamese boy with reddish hair in a rowboat, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Soi Sim Island with a lookout tower and a Russian-made beach, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Fishing boat, Halong Bay |
The largest tour boat we saw on Halong Bay, with 3 main decks |
Dad on the Halong Bay cruise |
Bhaya luxury junk, Halong Bay |
Fishing boats, silhouette, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Hey! There's the Lagoon Explorer, the boat we were supposed to be on |
...they told is it was down for maintenance... |
...turns out there are 2... |
well...they could have put us on that boat... |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
ON 2361 - Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Small boats, complete with laundry rack, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
...another small floating village, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Pearl farm for cultured pearls, Halong Bay |
Pearl farm for cultured pearls, Halong Bay |
"Main Street" of a floating village, Halong Bay |
Fishing boats tied up at a floating village, Halong Bay |
"Main Street" of a floating village, Halong Bay |
"Main Street" of a floating village, Halong Bay |
Floating village school built with French financing, Halong Bay |
Floating village school built with French financing, Halong Bay |
Kayak rental, floating village, Halong Bay |
Old woman rowing a boat, Halong Bay |
Another Walmart Boat, Halong Bay mobile shop |
Floating village, Halong Bay |
Fishing boat, floating village, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
I was thinking we were covering some of the same territory we had seen on the boat from Cat Ba |
...and when we came back across the freighter, it was confirmed |
Fu Zhou bulk cargo carrier, Halong Bay |
Sunset, Halong Bay |
Bhaya luxury junk at dusk, Halong Bay |
Bhaya luxury junk at dusk, Halong Bay |
Soi Sim Island at sunset, Halong Bay |
Soi Sim Island at sunset, Halong Bay |
Soi Sim Island at sunset, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay sunset, Vietnam |
Dangerous gang plank of the Ninh Binh |
We first passed Soi Sim Island at 3pm when it was nice and sunny |
Disappointingly, our boat stopped at the beach and lookout tower at Soi Sim after sunset |
Why we did not stop at 3pm I have no idea.... |
The view from the top of Soi Sim island would have been much better when it was sunny |
If the captain was shooting to get is here for sunset, he failed miserably |
View east from Soi Sim Island, Halong Bay |
View from Soi Sim Island lookout |
Boats tied up at Soi Sim Island where we stopped for 20 minutes |
"Praying Mantis Prawns" |
The boy who would only eat white rice playing with a prawn |
Nice presentation at dinner |
The fish |
Instead of finding a nice quiet place we moored at the entrance to a popular cave |
Our generator ran til midnight (under my bed) and other boats made noise too |
Crewmen taking a break, Binh Minh |
Row boat arriving to take us to a water cave |
Rowing to Hang Luon cave, Halong Bay |
The Binh Minh waiting for our return |
Entrance to Hang Luon Cave, Halong Bay |
The cave opens up to the hollow center of a limestone island filled with a lagoon |
Tourists from one of the larger boats - their motor was annoying in the lagoon |
Inside the lagoon reached through Hang Luon Cave |
Hang Luon Cave |
Rowboat passing through Hang Luon Cave into the lagoon |
Bai Tho 88, Halong Bay tourist boat |
Bien Ngoc tourboat with Soi Sim island - the sails are decorative |
Rock formation, Halong Bay |
Vietnamese flag, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
Halong Bay |
Bien Mo, Halong Bay |
Rental kayaks at a floating village near Hang Sung Sot, Halong Bay |
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
Large boat, Indochina Sails, with tender, Halong Bay |
Busy area of Halong Bay |
Our not-so-special boat, the Binh Minh |
Hang Sung Sot Cave - Halong Bay |
Hang Sung Sot Cave - Halong Bay |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Phallic rock, Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Phallic rock, Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
The very large main chamber, Hang Sung Sot Cave |
The very large main chamber, Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Main chamber, Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Hang Sung Sot Cave |
View of Halong Bay from the exit of Hang Sung Sot Cave |
View of Halong Bay from the exit of Hang Sung Sot Cave |
Boat pulled up to the "drop off" pier, Hang Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay |
Lagoon Explorer with sails raised, Halong Bay |
Tropical Sails - Lagoon Explorer |
The Lagoon Explorer we had booked - it turns out there are 2 of them - only ours was broken |
"Jewel of the Bay" Halong Bay |
Dad visiting the cave |
Boy taking a dump into Halong Bay |
Halong City back in view at the end of our cruise |
Bai Chay port, Halong City |
Minh Hai, Bai Chay port, Halong City |
Annam Junk, Hai Long Dream, Bai Chai port, Halong City |
Vietnamese boy with a Fly Emirates shirt, Halong City |
Official prices of boats and tours of Halong Bay, Bai Chay tourist port |
There are 5 different routes for day cruises of Halong Bay |
Prices for renting the entire boat for a cruise of Halong Bay |
Halong Dream Hotel, Bai Chay, Halong City |
Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City |
Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City |
Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City |
Heading back to Hanoi at the end of our trip |
Bridge across a river in an industrial town near Halong City |
Hen Gap Lai - See You Again |