Halong Bay

1 April 2013

A knock on our cabin door at 5 am was the signal we were not far from Hanoi station, and Mike and I wandered down to the restaurant car for what they described as a cup of tea. The train arrived at Hanoi station at around 5.30am, after a bumpy ride down from Lao Cai and we were all looking forward to putting the “luxury” train trip behind us.

Disembarking involved stepping off onto the tracks and dragging our bags across the adjacent railway lines to eventually get to the “platform”. For some reason this train stops and starts in the middle of a rail yard about 5 tracks wide.

We were met by our transport person and after a short walk to the people mover, were on our way to the Sofitel Metropole for some breakfast, a shower and to await our pick up to take us to Halong Bay at 8am. Our contact from Indo China tours dropped us at the hotel, and left us to our own resources, despite telling us arrangements had been made for us to have a shower. We eventually sorted out with the hotel to allow us to have a shower in the spa/gym. They were very helpful and accommodating.

The transport appeared again at 8am, and after a very satisfying breakfast, we were on our way to Halong Bay. The weather is not promising, overcast with light rain. The trip takes about 4 hours through never ending patches of rice paddies, veggie gardens and towns. The main road is very congested and not in great condition so progress is slow at times and driving tactics a bit like the old days in Malaysia. Land utilization is very high, if they can’t build something on it, they grow something. Even little patches of ground right up to the railway tracks have veggies growing on them.

After a couple of hours we have a comfort stop at a huge handicraft centre where the products are made by disabled people. There was an enormous expanse of just about everything you could imagine, but we just wanted a cup of coffee or tea, which we eventually found at the end of the complex.

On the road again for another hour and a half we find ourselves at an unscheduled stop at a pearl sales outlet on the pretext that the port is very busy and we needed to delay our arrival by about 20mins. We were soon out of there and on our way to meet the boat at the terminal for Paradise Tours, our boat operator.

We arrived at a huge complex, teeming with people all waiting to join their cruises. After being greeted by their representative, we were escorted inside the reception hall and offered coffee and a snack. We had been told we had been upgraded, but having no idea what this meant, we didn’t make much of it.

Before long we were met by their representative to take us to our boat, the Paradise Peak. They are big wooden boats which on the outside look unremarkable. Met at reception, at the stern of the vessel, we are told our boat has only 8 cabins.

Paradise Tours Base

Our Boat - Paradise Peak

When are escorted to our cabins, our spirits lifted considerably, the train trip soon forgotten. The cabins are luxurious, large as a hotel room, king size bed, large bathroom and with a good sized private balcony. 

We left the port within 10 minutes of us boarding along with about half a dozen other boats, heading out into Halong Bay. The port area is a big development with new buildings, (apartments etc ) everywhere.

After settling in to our room, lunch is served at 1 pm in the dining room, which is also pretty special. We were told that lunch would be seafood, but were totally unprepared for the feast that followed, a huge seafood platter with oysters, prawns, calamari, clams, mud crab etc, almost more than we could eat.

The weather has not improved and the afternoon activity involves visiting a floating fishing village where we are transported around by the locals in row boats made of bamboo. As soon as we board the boats, a storm came through, accompanied by heavy rain, so we all got quite wet, but soldiered on to complete the tour. Back to the main ship, and the showers worked overtime whilst everyone freshened up.

Dinner is at 7.30pm, in the meantime we cruise through the amazing scenery of Halong Bay, which despite the inclement weather, is spectacular.

We enjoyed a few drinks before dinners at the bar, with a couple of newly made friends, Craig & Tanya from Brisbane. He is a sailor, and did last years Sydney Hobart race, so we had plenty to talk about.

At 7.30pm we were ushered into the dining room for a 3 course a la carte menu which was very good. Once again we ate too much, but went to bed well fed and ready for a decent nights sleep.