Halong Bay, Vietnam « Gigxl

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Alix says:
So besides the crappy boat and lies we were told, the trip was good! The scenery of Halong Bay is beautiful. It’s like being in Jurassic Park - especially on Cat Bah Island. We did some kayaking in the bay, jumped off the boat and went swimming and I hiked to the top of a peak on Cat Bah that had crazy panorama views! Surprisingly the food we got on the boat was quite good. And the weather cleared up after some days of rain to allow you to see through the dense maze of craggily islands.

The islands are similar to those in Ao Phang Nga in Thailand, near Phuket, where we had been previously and kayaked through. Halong Bay had more islands, but also MANY more tour boats and the water was murky and always trash floating by unfortunately. It was beautiful to get in these surroundings twice, made me happy we had done our own kayaking trip in Thailand though!

Colin says:
Everything worked out. Our boat didn’t sink and we had a lot of fun with the people also on board. We arrived at Cat Bah island for day two and got to our hotel, which was different than the hotel we had been told we’d be staying at, but whatever. It was nice, and you know this “Same, Same but Different” bullshit they pull all the time. Anyway, told the miserable excuse for a human, our guide, off for the last time and enjoyed the rest of the day. Went to the beach, found some super cheap local beer, hit a tobacco bong with some locals, enjoyed our last free dinner, watched 10 year old kids / men? drink beer and smoke cigarettes (crazy!) and had a great nights sleep.

The food and the rooms for the days we booked were actually very good. Like I was saying earlier my only issue is the piss poor attitude of the people we were forced to deal with and I would add that the discovery of what you get verses what you were told you would get is frustrating to constantly have to decipher. Day three basically returns you from the island to the harbor. I’m actually writing this on the boat. The same boat actually with the same terrible crew. I’ve already given them my “fuck off” looks and am now enjoying the great scenery!