Day 2 - Halong Bay

woke up early at 6am to the melodious sound of vehicle honking haha. unfortunately it was raining today, but that didn’t dampen our spirits.

I insisted on a photo with our friendly hotel staff before leaving, cos Vietnamese guys are so cute wahaha! =P

we headed for breakfast at Blue Paradise Hotel. one of the troubles of travelling in a group of 28 is that we had to literally queue for our breakfast, and squeeze together in the small hallway. but it was definitely worth the wait! there was toast, cheese, omelette and my PHO!

The pho looked so harmless and unappetizing initially, but together with viet chilli padi and fresh lime, it was DELICIOUSSS! the chef cooked the pho meticulously bowl by bowl, either beef or chicken. the pho was light and smooth, and the soup was rich and tasty, no after-MSG-thirsty-feeling at all. the pho in Singapore and Melbourne can’t compare at all lol.

after breakfast, we embarked on our 4 hour ride to Halong Bay!

it was nice watching the streets of Hanoi before we left the city. there were scooters and more scooters, I don’t see why we should complain about traffic jams back home. there’s traffic jam here all the time and people just take it easy. though they honk all the time (really non-stop lol) they appear to be doing so for no apparent reason! haha and the roads are always an adventure for pedestrians and drivers - pedestrians can cross anytime and anyhow, while drivers can drive diagonally or even against oncoming traffic!

the houses and buildings are usually all skinny and high-rised (not as high as Singapore lol) and with a balcony on each level haha. they’re very French in décor, probably from the time of French colonialism. apparently each of these houses actually can cost up to USD 2-3 million! these people are rich with property, but instead of choosing to sell it, they just open a small store below selling food and such. I admire the way they’re contented with what they have.


in the midst of the journey, we stopped over at a tourist attraction that sold handicrafts made by handicapped children. too expensive for us tho so we didn’t buy anything. this was also a Ve Sinh (toilet) break for us hehe.

after the 4 hour ride, we finally reached the pier where we boarded our junk boat, Hai Au! sounds like 海鷗 in Chinese haha. it was so un-junkish, more like a mini 3-star hotel. the boat was huge and beautifully designed, with a dining and gathering area as well as an upper deck for sun tanning. there were 3 levels, with 10 rooms, so some of them slept on another junk boat that was going to be “connected” to us at night.


lunch wasn’t sumptuous but it was very delicious. I was in total awe of the fried Vietnamese spring rolls, my virgin try at AUTHENTIC spring rolls! couldn’t stop praising the fish too, fresh and crisp. their rice was also fragrant, strangely in a Japanese way.

our tour guide for the Halong Bay tour was Tam, a handsome young man hahaha. he spoke good English and had a great sense of humour.


our next stop was the fishing village or what we call kellong! the kellong was big but well organized and we had fun balancing along the wooden planks and observing how they handled the fishies. there were even baby sharks circling beneath us! the last time I went to a kellong was in secondary school in Kukup lol, feels great to visit again.

I seriously believe that Vietnamese guys don’t need to go to gyms to earn their 6-packs..check out this guy!! I so wouldn’t mind living in Vietnam kellongs!! wahaha =P

Van shocked, not sure was it cos of the slapping fishies or the hottie hunk LOL.

after waving goodbye to the kellong, i saw something interesting yet heart-wrenching at the same time. kids from the fishing village rowed their boats out towards our boat, shouting out asking for money. later we realized that this was a common sight not only in Hanoi, but HCM as well. It then struck me that most people in Vietnam live in poverty. felt kinda sad as I watched them row away, so independent, so happy, and yet this act of seeking donations is inevitably part of their everyday lives. I believe no parent would want their children to be taught that, but survival leaves them with little choice.

next up, we visited Hang Sung Sot, the Cave of Surprises. supposedly the most beautiful cave of Halong Bay. what’s special about this place is the interior walls of the cave, which seem man-made due to its smoothness. the high ceilings are also nicely cratered, like the surface of the moon, probably due to sea waves in the past. and there are many “surprises” sculptures along the surfaces of the walls! so the Vietnamese named it after the awe-stricken faces of visitors haha.

this pic is damn funny lol!

It felt really cooling inside despite the scorching weather. reminded me of where Xiao Long Nu lives with her ice bed.

one of the surprises – an huge erect penis…
and its awe-stricken admirers.

welcome to Jurassic park!

a penguin!? ok this was just a dustbin haha.

behold..light at the end of the tunnel!

the view from the top of Hang Sung Sot was breathtaking. topped with nice cool ice cream!

Us and Tam, and Hai Au!

bunch of tired girls.

see this little boat? It’s actually a mobile shop selling tidbits and stuff to the tourist boats! at tourist price of cos haha.

group pic before leaving :)

more about Halong Bay...
Halong Bay actually means Bay of the Descending Dragon. It is rumoured that when the forefathers of Vietnam were trying to protect their land from invaders, the gods of heaven sent a family of dragons down to earth to help them. as the dragons descended, they spit out jewels which formed islands around the land that acted as fortresses against their enemies. haha ok for further insights, pls read Wikipedia yourself :P

did alot of camwhoring haha. finally the boat came to a halt in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by beautiful rocks in the centre of Halong Bay. this was where we were going to spend the night! while some went swimming, the rest of us chilled on the upper deck enjoying the sunset.

sumptuos dinner!

at night, we immersed in some Hanoi beer (Bia Hanoi) which cost S$2.00 per can. indeed much cheaper than singapore, but it's not cheap at all! in Hanoi we could buy for 80cents per can. light and refreshing, im really impressed with Hanoi beer!

as we were a little too old for Truth/Dare games, so the 4 of us together with Tam and Jude chit chatted, while getting "drunk" over the Gin Rummy cards lol.

a memorable night onboard :)