We are heading to Bai Tu Long Bay today! While Ha Long Bay is the more popular tourist destination, Bai Tu Long bay is adjacent to it and picking the right itinerary to visit can be difficult. Hearing about different experiences, the Sister and I had a few things we wanted from this experience. In general both of us didn’t want a day trip out of Hanoi. If we are going to visit the bay we at least want a multi day trip. The Sister wants to avoid the over touristed areas so going to Bai Tu long instead of Ha Long is preferable. Meanwhile, I’d like to sail on a junk boat. Enter Indochina Junk’s 2 day cruises on the Dragon Pearl! It seems to check all the boxes and so we book it!
So after waking up and having another great hotel breakfast, we head down to our hotel lobby and wait for the cruise company’s shuttle to come pick us up.
Shuttle to Ha Long International Harbour
Soon enough the driver comes to get us and we settle into the comfortable van for the two hour drive to the port. The ride is pretty uneventful and before long we arrive at the port. We quickly check in with the Indochina Junk staff and soon meet our other shipmates. We get a quick orientation and are soon onboard a small tender heading towards our home for the next two days: The Dragon Pearl Junk.
The Dragon Pearl Junk
Once onboard, we first get a short ship and safety orientation. They then go through the schedule for the day before assigning us our cabins onboard. From there we have an opportunity to unpack and settle into our rooms. We also get an opportunity to explore the ship a little. The Dragon’s Pearl Junk is a boat with 10 cabins and three levels. The bottom deck is where most of the cabins are. The middle deck is primarily the dining and bar deck where we will have our meals. And finally the top deck is the sun deck where you can spend your time enjoying the surrounding scenery. It’s a pretty compact and comfortable boat and the Sister and I settle into it fairly quickly. As we wander and familiarize ourselves with the boat, it sets sail and starts to make its way out to sea.
Bai Tu Long Bay
Bai Tu Long Bay sees less ships and visitors than Ha Long Bay and is one of the reasons for choosing this itinerary over Ha Long bay. Even though the weather isn’t amazing, Bai Tu Long bay is beautiful! The calm emerald waters with the limestone islands that jut out make for a super picturesque scene. While I don’t have first hand experience with Ha Long bay, I can certainly appreciate the distinct lack of other tourist boats around. At most we only encounter maybe three or four other boats (and most of the time they are all from the same company Indochina Junk!) nearby. Seeing photos and hearing experiences about Ha Long Bay, this isn’t the norm so by that measure alone I’m really appreciative of the peaceful and tranquil setting I find myself in.
Lunch
After being at sea for a little bit, it’s soon time for lunch. We all gather in the dining room and sit down to a wonderfully prepared meal that includes fresh salad, seafood soups, chicken and a steamed fish. I also order a “pho” cocktail which has all the aromas of a typical pho noodle dish but the tastiness of a well crafted beverage. Even though its a multi course meal, its not too heavy and all tastes pretty fresh so hats off to the cook!
Thien Canh Son Cave
After lunch we make a stop near Thien Canh Son Cave where we board a tender and make landfall. Part of our itinerary is visiting this limestone cave and exploring the stalagmites inside. Our guide goes through the history and formation of the cave and also how locals would seek shelter in the caves during rough weather. It’s also an opportunity for us to check out Bai Tu Long bay from a a higher vantage point as well as from a beach along the water. Both of which continue to offer stunning views of the bay.
Kayaking
After visiting the cave, we once again board the tender and head towards a small dock where we all have an opportunity to hop into kayaks and kayak around the bay for an hour or two. I haven’t kayaked in years. But seeing how calm and peaceful the water is, the experience is very enjoyable for both the Sister and I. Even though its just the two of in a Kayak, both this and the cave experience also gives us an opportunity to get to know some of our shipmates a little more too. Having the chance to share some of these activities with fellow travellers is a great way to get to know people from all walks of life and it sets us up for a great evening making new friends!
Upon returning from our Kayaking, we have a little time to rest before we gather again in the dining room where the guides will do a small cooking class! They teach us how to make an egg pancake and give everyone a chance to make their own. It’s a cool little activity and snack right before dinner and another chance for the group to bond while sharing some laughs. After the cooking class, we get a little free time and a few of us head to the top deck to enjoy the cool evening air and chat a little more before dinner.
Dinner
Soon its time for dinner and we return to the dining room where a variety of seafood offerings are on offer. Much like lunch, there’s a large variety of courses and being able to share good food with new found friends certainly makes for a wonderful way to end off our first day here in Bai Tu Long bay.
Overnighting in Bai Tu Long Bay
After dinner, I spend a little time above deck to take in the peacefulness of the bay before heading back to our cabin. I will say that regardless of which bay you decide to go to, I think making it an overnight affair is the way to go. There’s a certain calm at night that’s cool to experience and being able to see some of that turquoise water lit up around your boat adds to the atmosphere! Eventually though, I do head back to the cabin, wash up and settle down looking towards morning.
Breakfast
Up bright and early, we have a bit of an early start and port of call. But first we all gather in the dinning room for breakfast and you can’t really go wrong with a traditional bowl of Pho noodles! This is by far my favourite breakfast cuisine in all my travels!
Vung Vieng Fishing Village
After breakfast, we hop into tenders again and head towards the Vung Vieng Fishing Village. It’s a floating fishing village that resides between a bunch of the limestone cliffs of Bai Tu Long bay. While the village itself is no longer “lived in” because the local government relocated its inhabitants to the mainland due to safety and environmental concerns. The residents still return everyday to fish and welcome tourists. It’s an interesting peek into another way of life, though I do recognize the “touristy” element to this part of our itinerary. I did come away with a great appreciation for the ingenuity of the local fishermen and women!
Water Puppet Show
After departing from the fishing village, our boat then sets sail back to Ha Long port as its the end of our two day journey. However, there is one last item on our itinerary which is a water puppet show. However, this isn’t done at the bay. But rather on our transfer back to Hanoi. After disembarking the Dragon Pearl, we get back into the vans and drive about 45 minutes to this outdoor theatre where we are treated to a water puppet show. It’s hard to describe the show, it starts with two singers who swing while someone rows them around the “stage”. Then the puppets pop up from “beneath” the curtain and perform. And then its as the name describes, puppets performing on the water. I’m not entirely sure the mechanism the puppeteers use to actually control them, but it’s pretty impressive nonetheless!
After the water puppet show, we return to our transports and head back towards Hanoi. While it took us about two hours to get from Hanoi to the port yesterday. The trip today from the water puppet show back to our hotel takes us about three. So this is our first taste of Hanoi traffic I guess. Most of us drift off while riding in the bus and by the time we get back to our hotel it’s already the late afternoon.
The Banh mi Station
After re-settling into our hotel and freshening up a little we head back out into Hanoi. Our first stop is to pick up a small snack in the form of a Banh mi. One of our shipmates had recommended Banh mi Station to us. So we decide to give it a try and as far as Banh mi’s go, it’s pretty good! I have no complaints and since we haven’t eaten since breakfast, this really hits the spot!
Hanoi Train Street
Our next stop is to visit the Hanoi Train Street. This is probably one of the most touristy destinations in Hanoi and a place that the Sister didn’t really have on her list. I kind of dragged her over simply to check it off and see what it’s like. It’s super crowded, overly commercial and obviously caters to tourists. But there is a part of me that is happy to say I’ve seen it first hand and now probably don’t need to see it again. Thanks Sister for humouring me!
The Note Coffee
After the train street we wander over to a coffee shop called The Note Coffee. The coffee culture in Hanoi is awesome and there are so many cool coffee shops all over the city. One such is the Note Coffee which has a neat concept of giving their guests post it notes. They can then write anything on them and post it anywhere in the building. Not only are there some very creative methods of how people post their notes, but reading some of the notes’ contents can be quite interesting too! The Sister and I even get in on the fun and stick a note commemorating our trip somewhere in there! If you ever find it snap a photo and let me know!
While spending our time enjoying our coffee, right outside a pretty elaborate band sets up and starts busking. If you remember from our initial exploration of Hanoi, they seem to close the main streets in the old quarter over the weekends. And I guess they allow performances and entertainment in different areas to add to the festivities. I really like this idea as it really adds to the atmosphere! Whether you’re stopping to enjoy the performance, or you’re just walking on the street vibing to the music. I think as a whole people are generally just a bit happier! It’s really neat!
Pho Ga Nguyet Part 2
After spending a bit of time enjoying the performances and general atmosphere, our thoughts turn to food again! And in our minds we really want to go back to Pho Ga Nguyet. So we head back but instead of getting the regular chicken pho, we get a dry noodle version this time. We had seen other’s get this the last time and wanted to try it ourselves this time. It’s funny because this time after getting it, most of our neighbours get the regular chicken pho! It’s like when we zig, they zag! Regardless, it’s still really tasty and we’re really happy with our choice!
Cloud Sky Bar
Finally, we start making our way back to our hotel. However, one of the things I had on my list prior to coming to Vietnam is enjoying a rooftop bar. Most of my time travelling Asia has been solo travel and doing rooftop bars solo isn’t as fun. So, having the Sister with me now seems like a great opportunity to check this off the list! One of the reasons for choosing the hotel is that it seems to have a cool rooftop bar called the Cloud Sky Bar. So, after dinner we head back to our hotel and straight up to the roof for a nightcap! We order a few tasty drinks and enjoy a relaxing end to our whirlwind adventure to Bai Tu Long bay.
After spending some time on the roof, we head back to our room and start settling down. We have half a day left but unfortunately we’ll be leaving Vietnam tomorrow night. So we do a little bit of packing and start to get ourselves ready for a long upcoming travel day.