Halong Bay | Where is Yumi?

28/07/201826/07/2018

Ready to get on board

Yumi is at Halong Bay pier. (◕‿◕)♡

After waiting for a while at Garden Bay Luxury Cruise Office, tour guides finally started to call everyone’s name on their list and divided in 3 groups. 3 groups mean going with 3 different cruises. Each group had about 20 people. It seemed like we were the only Asian on the cruise. (*^‿^*)

Tickets were given individually to everyone. It was included with the tour price. After handing the ticket, we were getting ready on board.

From here, you could see many cruises were waiting for their passengers to get on not far away from the shore, but since they couldn’t come near, tenders were needed to bring all the people.

All the cruise companies have their own tenders. It took only few minutes later. finally we got on the cruise and lunch was also ready too. (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

27/07/201826/07/2018

When to go to Halong Bay?

March is the end of winter in Hanoi. Still it is a bit cold compared to Cambodia. The average temperature was around 20 degrees Celsius during our travel. It was chilly, but warms enough with a turtleneck long-sleeves shirt though. ╰(▔∀▔)╯

Because of perfect weather with clear blue sky, no raining, no storm on March, it is the best season to enjoy days out sightseeing, especially spending a night or two on a cruise is the top activity to do in Halong Bay. A UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Halong Bay is worth to visit at least once in your lifetime. ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶

26/07/201826/07/2018

Waiting for a cruise

Yumi is at Garden Bay Luxury Cruise office. (◕‿◕)♡

Halong Bay is really one of the most tourist attractions in Hanoi. Hundreds of travelers continuously came while we were waiting at the Garden Bay Luxury Cruise office. Too many that there were not enough seats for them to sit. Some were standing; some were sitting on the floors when all of the travelers were gathered together (there were other cruise offices nearby too). Most of them were Europeans, only few Asians were seen on that day.

Anyway, if you get bored of waiting or get annoyed by smoking (a lot of people smoking around), about 50 meters away from the office, there is a small pier where you can enjoy fresh air, as well as looking at the scenery of Halong City at your right side and awaiting cruises near the shore at your left side.

“Is my cruise coming yet?” that’s what I thought while looking to this direction. ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡

24/07/201821/07/2018

Cycling around Halong City

Yumi was riding bicycle (◕‿◕)♡

Single and tandem bikes were free to use from Vanilla Halong Villa, where we stayed during our trip in Halong City. Mum and I had so much fun together since it was our first time riding a tandem bike. ( ˘⌣˘)♡(˘⌣˘ )

Moreover, there was a sidewalk all along from the hotel into the town which made us feel safe to ride, away from the driveway. We gone around the nearby local town, but some parts of the area were still under construction and empty buildings.

Because where we stayed was a new town and a bit far from the center, there weren’t many shops or restaurants opens yet. After riding about 1 hour, we ended up eating Lotteria chicken at Marine Plaza. And even that Plaza area was also quiet, and almost empty.

In the future, I hope there will be many shopping centers and tourist places open in Halong City, and then I will definitely visit there again.

23/07/201821/07/2018

Vanilla Halong Villa

Yumi was staying at Vanilla Halong Villa (◕‿◕)♡

We stayed one night at Vanilla Halong Villa on March this year. It was a small hotel but the room was very clean and so comfortable. The balcony was also lovely decorated with beautiful flowers. It was a good choice for a quiet place to sleep. ( ‾́ ◡ ‾́ )

The hotel located in a huge area with many buildings around, but some buildings are still empty, no tenant yet; also the surroundings are still under construction so there aren’t any restaurants nearby. We had to go into town for food and exploring.

Good thing I like about the hotel is we could use tandem bike for free to look around the city. It was lovely and we got so much fun. (〃＾▽＾〃)