Junk Boating Through Halong Bay

It’s not every day that you’re on a massive ship sailing through limestone cliffs and turquoise water with a crew serving you fresh seafood.

(view from my room)

AHH but it’s the most special memory I have of traveling to Vietnam! Halong Bay is without a doubt the most beautiful place I visited on my 17 day trip.

When I first figured out I was going,  I did tons of research that inevitably led me to pictures of Halong Bay. After seeing just one photo I KNEW I had to see it with my own eyes.

(Junk boating through Halong Bay)

Some blogs and people started to worry me because they talked about bad weather and that the rain in January would ruin the whole trip.

Nope. No way.

It was the best!! I do think that going in warmer months would have been great as well, but we were so lucky with the weather. I honestly think it would be spectacular in any weather. Throw in some snow and I’m still there!

We ended up leaving from Hanoi early one morning and landed at the docking station of Halong Bay mid-day where we took a smaller zodiac boat out to board our larger boat.

We took a junkboat (they call them that, but they are really nice ships) with tons of cabins and common areas. We sailed all night and day and got out to do excursions like:

• kayaking to see monkeys in a cove
• hikes up the limestone cliffs with even better views of the bay
• tours of the caves in the cliffs
• a little volleyball on one of the beaches

We’d end our night with fresh seafood and in the morning the crew would bring us fresh fruit.

This ship was also a major PARTY. Mainly because I was on a Contiki trip which is known for their parties, but after reading a few blogs about Halong Bay–most ships are like this. 🙂 #PirateParty

The one thing I wish I did was…. stay longer.

Halong Bay and Vietnam in general is starting to become a lot more touristy (a bit like Thailand) so if you go I recommend going soon.

AND…

make sure to put Halong Bay at the top of that list!