Cruising Ha Long Bay with Paloma

Welcome to my first cruise!  I've been on ships before, and the experiences I've had with motion sickness have really deterred me from going on a cruise.  But the serene pictures of Ha Long Bay online were too inviting to resist.  No big waves and only calm water; so I figured it must be safe for me.

I excitedly searched online for a cruise, and there were so many that my head spun.  Not only were there tour providers, official cruise sites, and booking apps, but there were scammers as well.  I must have read a hundred reviews before finally choosing La Fairy Sails via booking.com because of good reviews, its beautiful vessel, and interesting itinerary.  I had already made a booking that was free to cancel when I read about a lot of people complaining that Ha Long Bay was too crowded with tourists and that there was the smell of gas in the air because of the numerous ships in the area.  Some people mentioned that Bai Tu Long Bay was less crowded and so I started searching for cruises going that route (which wasn't many, but at least that helped to narrow down my choices☺).  I chose to book with Agoda to avoid getting scammed.  Plus, I would also earn reward points for my booking.  Win-win situation, right?  Browsing through Agoda and reading some more reviews, I finally chose Paloma Cruise because I was interested in going to the pearl farm, and only a few cruises went there.  I got the superior room for about $250 inclusive of one night's stay, four meals, and cruise activities for two.  The shuttle from our Old Quarter hotel to the docking area wasn't free.  They charged $25 per person round-trip.  We had to pay for this by stopping by their office downtown on the way to the docks.

When I first learned that it would take four hours to reach our destination, I thought it would be tiring and that's why I opted for a one-night stay on-board the ship instead of a day trip.  It wasn't too tiring after all because we stopped over a workshop for disabled people, which was in fact a very big souvenir shop where you could buy Vietnamese delicacies, clothes, scarves, artwork, etc.

Stopover

Upon reaching the harbor, we were greeted by the cruise manager and guide.  They checked in our luggage and brought them to the ship.  We were then directed to wait in the lounge with free beverages and free WiFi.  

The only thing that I didn't quite like was the toilet.  It was soooo dirty!  I hope they could improve on that.

After a while, we were each given tickets by our guide, and we proceeded to the docks to ride a boat to transfer to our Paloma Cruise ship which was really very near!

This is the lounge right beside the dining area.

This is the ground floor hallway leading to our room.

The superior room.

 

The bathroom was a bit cramped.  There was no leg room in the toilet.  A tall person would have a hard time fitting here.

After a brief orientation at the dining hall, we were given 15 minutes to go to our respective rooms to settle down and go back the dining hall for lunch.  

Food was shared with other guests on the same table.  Can't complain about the food - it was great!

After lunch, we were given a few minutes to change and get ready for the day's activities.  Sorry, no time to rest, but you could always opt not to join the activities as some of our cruise companions did.

We again rode on a small boat and headed for the nearby Thien Canh Son cave.  It was a little tricky to traverse the cave as it was dark and slippery inside.  The stairs were slippery too.  Always a good thing to wear nonslip shoes and bring a flashlight or your phone's light could do.

For someone who's seen a lot of caves already, it wasn't anything new.  It was very small and had the usual stalactites and stalagmites.

If not for our guide's stories about the place, it would have been dull and boring.  His name is Justin, by the way.  Funny and friendly fellow.

After going back to the ship, it was time to do some kayaking.  We were given free rein on where we wanted to go in the kayak and were left to our own devices.  If I had watched Kong Skull Island before I went to Ha Long, I wouldn't have had the guts to go in the kayak.  Who knew what was inside the deep water?  It wasn't crystal clear at all, and you just can't see through it.  I didn't see a single sea creature except for a huge jellyfish when we were going to the pearl farm.  Nevertheless, it was still a beautiful place.  The sun was just setting and I got to take some pretty nice shots of the scenery.  They don't allow guests to bring gadgets, but you can bring it if it's waterproof.

Shot through my phone inside a waterproof case.

After kayaking, we went back to our rooms to change and got ready for the sunset party before dinner.  We also had an opportunity to take some more pictures.

The sunset "party" wasn't really a party.  It was more of snacking on fruits and beverages on the upper deck with music on and that was it.  The upper deck was the only place with a little WiFi signal.

Finally, dinner time!  Dinner consisted of beef pea soup, fire-grilled shrimps which they peeled for us (really good service), fish fillet with vegetables, beef with vegetables, and panna cotta.

The last activity for the day was nighttime squid fishing.  I initially planned to join, but when I reached our room to wait for it to start, I was so tired that I instantly fell asleep.  I did wake up when they had started and took a peek at what they were doing.

And I thought squid fishing was different, but it was the same as ordinary fishing.

Our ship didn't move an inch since we stopped over at Thien Canh Son.  It just stayed in one place the whole night.  I tried to pinpoint our exact location by using Google Maps and this is what I got.

We only started moving the next day.  I think I only got to see a small part of the bay, but to me it didn't matter since traveling to the other parts would render the same scenery anyway.

Breakfast was buffet style with plenty of food choices.  You can take the food out the deck to enjoy the view.

After breakfast, we headed out to Vung Vieng Fishing Village.  It used to be an overpopulated fishing village contributing to water pollution, but the Vietnamese government turned it into a well-maintained tourist spot by relocating most of the people who lived there.  This also gave them a source of livelihood.  Unlike our tourist spots where service providers just wear any kind of clothing, they all wore the same purple shirt and the traditional nón lá hat.  For that alone, the fishing village was worth a visit.  It looked so nice in pictures especially when they were all together.

We rode the boat up to this point and then made a U-turn to go to the pearl farm.

We were introduced to the different kinds of pearls and how they were harvested.  There was a live demonstration of how they artificially processed pearls and how they harvested them.

They also sold pearl jewelries in their store.

It was back to the ship again after the pearl farm visit.  It was time for the cooking class.  The cruise manager was very entertaining in teaching us how to make Vietnamese spring rolls.

These were the winners in the spring roll making contest!

And guess what we had for lunch?  Spring rolls!  Additionally, we had the option to choose pasta or seafood for lunch, and we chose seafood.

We were given pomelo for dessert (shared per table).  Unlike the Philippine pomelo, theirs was yellow green and dry.  Our Davao pomelo is still the best.  I've tasted their mangoes too, and there's no denying Philippine mangoes are really better.

It was time to say goodbye after lunch.  Our luggage has been taken to the docks ahead of us.  We again rode on the boat to once again go to their lounge to wait for our shuttle taking us back to the Old Quarter.  It was a very bumpy ride being seated at the last row.  We went to the same stopover place and were dropped off at our hotel.

I don't have any regrets in choosing Paloma Cruise.  Everything went well.  We were treated like royal guests.  They made the whole experience very entertaining.  An overnight stay was just right for me.  It would've been too rushed and tiring for a day trip.  I was really very impressed with Vietnamese hospitality.  Compared to our tourism industry, theirs is really flourishing.  We could definitely learn a thing or two from them.  I hope someday the Philippines will also become a premiere travel destination with all the beautiful natural resources we have.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my trip!  Please follow me on Instagram @reclusivetraveler.  Thanks!

A Short Hanoi Experience

Xin chào!  That's hello in Vietnamese.  From our very short trip to Hanoi, I only learned to say hello and thank you from our very informative tour guide, Thanh.

When we were first planning for this trip, I have to admit I wasn't really excited.  My impression of Vietnam was that it would be just like the Philippines.  I expected hot, humid weather, snatchers, and pickpockets...No offense, but that's the reality.  I've read about how taxi drivers would cheat tourists and how there were even fake web sites posing as the official pages of travel agencies and tour providers.  Indeed, when I was searching for a Ha Long Bay cruise, I saw La Fairy Sails had several different web sites and didn't know which one was really their official page.  Because of this, I decided to book with Agoda.com just to be safe.

Since we would be arriving at midnight, I also opted to book an airport transfer with our hotel so I wouldn't have to deal with fraudulent taxi drivers.  Our hotel charged us US$38 round trip.

Our ride to the hotel

Our ride to the airport

Overall, the airport transfer service was pretty good except that our driver lost his way going to our hotel.  It would be wise to download an offline map of the Hanoi area in your phone.  I used Google Maps while we were in the car and that's how I knew the driver was lost because he veered off the correct route and was circling round and round the area.  He didn't speak English so it was hard to communicate with him.  He even got mad when I showed him the map and told him which way to go.  Eventually, after 30 minutes of circling around and asking two people on the street, he decided to follow the map after all, haha!  The next day, the manager told me that since their hotel was only six months old, a lot of drivers didn't know its location.  Okay Mr. Driver, you're forgiven.

Finally got to our hotel, Luxury Old Quarter

Because the Old Quarter is their primary tourist area, we chose a hotel there.  All tours offer hotel pickup and drop-off from the Old Quarter, making it most convenient.  Our one-day tour around Hanoi didn't charge us for hotel pickup and drop-off, but our Ha Long Bay cruise charged us US$25 per person round trip from our hotel to the docking area.

We booked the Superior room through Agoda again.  Can you tell it's my favorite booking site?  The design was Japanese inspired and the only seat available was a round cushion on the floor.  The vanity mirror was also very low and we had to kneel down to use it.  Everything was nice and very clean.  One thing that puzzled me was the placement of the towel bar.  Instead of putting it inside the shower enclosure, they put it beside the sink.  So when we showered, there was nowhere to hang our clothes or towel.  There also wasn't anywhere to put soap and shampoo on.

Breakfast was good with a lot of food varieties.  Unlike other hotels which serve the same breakfast over and over again every day, they changed it up.  The dining area was very elegant although seating capacity was very limited.  If I remember it correctly, it could only seat about 18 people.  Can't really blame them because it's just a small hotel.  Almost all the hotels in the area were about the same size.  Going around the Old Quarter area, there were a lot of other nice-looking boutique hotels.  Plus, hotel rates were very affordable.

The best thing about our hotel was the service and their staff.  They were really hospitable and very friendly.  Ms. Phuong was very helpful in arranging things and spoke good English.  They even let us stay in the lobby with free drinks to wait for our ride to the airport even if we've already checked out.  This is the best service I've received from a hotel so far.

On to our city tour which I booked through Klook, we were picked up at a little past 8 a.m. to join a group of other tourists who were all very friendly too.  It was a mix of Malaysian-Chinese, Australian, German, Indian, and Korean people.  Our guide, Thanh, spoke good English although his pronunciation could be sometimes off and I had to analyze what he was saying in order to understand him.  He pronounced Burma as "Boomer" and Australia as "Autralia".  He was really funny with his jokes and so it was rather entertaining.

First stop was the Tran Quoc Pagoda.  Some tourists buy small turtles from the vendors outside and then release them into the lake because of a belief that if they do that, they can live a very long life.

Buddha tree from India

Do note that wearing sleeveless clothing is not allowed inside the temple and be prepared to remove your shoes before going in.

Next stop was the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.  It's a little like our Luneta Park.  Sadly, the mausoleum was under renovation and we weren't allowed to go in and see President Ho Chi Minh's remains.

Thanh then took us on a tour of the palace grounds to see the Presidential Palace built by the French.  We saw the house where President Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from 1954 until 1958 and also his cars.  We weren't allowed to go in the house though.

Little Buddha trees scattered all around the lake

Pomelo trees

You can buy souvenir items before exiting the palace grounds.

Next, we went to the Museum of Ethnology to take a peek into the lives of the various ethnic groups in Vietnam.

The entrance to the indoor museum starts with pictures of the 54 different tribes in Vietnam.

There really wasn't much to see inside the museum, and it was pretty boring.  The exhibit outside the museum was more interesting and more interactive.  Again, be prepared to remove your shoes before going in the wooden houses.

One of their tombs

We got to take a tour inside this very long house where families used to live together.

 

Believe me, it was easier to go up than down!

It was already past noon when we finished exploring, and everybody thought lunch would be next.  Much to our Korean companions' dismay, we had to stop over at a lacquerware shop before we could have lunch.  We were all so very hungry already!

Upon first glance, the lacquerware shop didn't seem like much.  There were lots of artwork like this one below all around the place.  At first I thought they were just ordinary paintings on glass, but when the shop's guide started explaining how each artwork was done, I started to appreciate them.  Imagine, they were all made by hand using crushed eggshells, crushed oyster shells pieced together like a puzzle.  I wanted to take some home but they were so expensive and not to mention bulky.  Definitely wouldn't fit in my suitcase.

Finally, lunch time!  We went to Blue Butterfly for lunch.  Thanh informed us that their travel agency also owns the restaurant.

It was a cozy restaurant with very nice decor.

We had grilled fish, green papaya salad, chicken with lemongrass, mixed vegetables, and rice.

We were seated five people per table and shared the food.  Beverages were not included so if you want something more than water, you'd have to pay for that.

After lunch, our last stop was Quoc Tu Giam to see Confucius' temple, the Temple of Literature.

There were a lot of graduating students roaming about having their pictures taken wearing the traditional Ao Dai.

Stone steles where successful graduates have their names engraved on.

Confucius' Temple

It was an enjoyable experience with APT Travel (no, they're not affiliated with the one in Australia).  Touring these places without Thanh would've been boring.  What made it come alive was his input of information about the places we visited and the other tourists in the group who were all very nice and friendly.  We were lucky the weather was nice.  It wasn't too sunny and not too cloudy.  When you go, be prepared to get sweaty with all the walking and also wear shoes that would be easy to remove since you'll be doing a lot of that.  Best to wear socks so your feet won't get dirty.

That's it for our one-day Hanoi tour!  Stay tuned for my next post of our Ha Long Bay cruise.  Hope I can find the time to finish it ASAP.  Tạm biệt!  That's goodbye in Vietnamese.