Ha Long Bay - Oriental Sails

We visited Hanoi, Vietnam for a short 4 days, 3 nights trip. We missed our ex-classmate's wedding and we had to clear some of our annual leave. Might as well use this opportunity to visit and bring some gifts over!

Dates of travel: 10-13 October 2015

This post will be broken up to two parts: Hanoi & Ha Long Bay.

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Oriental Sails

Since we were in Hanoi, we didn't want to miss out visiting Ha Long Bay. I'm damn sure I didn't regret going to Ha Long Bay for a 2 day 1 night cruise.

First, we shopped online for an affordable cruise that we liked on https://www.bestpricevn.com/halongbaycruises/. We managed to find one we liked and suited to our budget. I emailed them directly for a good price. Of course, what the online travel agent quoted to us is different from what the operator quotes us. Whichever one you book with, make sure that the final price includes the transfer from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay.

Oriental Sails is the lowest category out of 3 other cruises they have. It suited our needs just fine and we didn't need a super luxurious cruise anyway.

Price: USD150 (converted and paid in Vietnam Dong)
Includes: Accommodation, Food (lunch, dinner, breakfast & lunch), entrance fees, kayaking, squid fishing

Since we were staying out of the Hanoi Old Quarters, we had to take a taxi from our friend's place to Oriental Sails office. The pick up time was at 7.45am and then we boarded the mini bus and embarked on our 3 hour long journey from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. After 1.5 hours of bus ride through padi fields and Northern scenery, we stopped for a short break to stretch our legs, some coffee and to send some postcards out.

Finally, we arrived at the port where we boarded a small speed boat to ferry us to the cruise ship. The ship is what they claim to be a traditional wooden junk boat converted to a cruise ship. to me, it was luxurious enough to be considered NOT a junk boat.

safety first

 On board, we were ushered to the dining room where we were given welcome refreshments and our rooms keys. The dining room boasts full length windows which allows natural sunlight to filter into the spacious cabin.

on board

 The welcome refreshment was mango juice and a hot towel to wipe away my sleep and to re-energize me for the cruise!

Welcome drink and warm towel

Roll calls and room keys were quickly given out. I must say we were quite lucky. The cruise is suited for about 36 pax, but there were only 17 of us!

Room

In the room, there are large windows in which we can open to allow some breeze and sunlight into the room. The beds were comfortable


our cabin room

Welcome fruits were placed inside the room as well! The platter consisted of bananas, a mango, rambutans, grapes (which were not sweet) and an odd green fruit which we never got round to eating. We suspect it's an orange or lime of some sort.

welcome fruits

 The cruise ship was recently renovated, thus everything looked new and clean! The bathroom is spacious! They even provided bath soap and shampoo!

toilet

There's a window in the toilet for you to enjoy the view while showering. That's provided there's no one else outside watching you! Both of us would have preferred if there were curtains to cover the windows as during the night when we're docked for the night, there's other cruise ships around the bay. You never know who may just be looking in!

bathroom 

Deck

The cruise has a total of 3 levels. The rooms were located on the 1st and 2nd levels. The dining room and bar on the 2nd level, and the sun deck and a nice al fresco siting area on the 3rd level! It was too cold for us to sun bathe though. Even though the cruise was recently renovated, the deck chairs were obviously not replaced. Most of the chairs had holes right in the middle of the chair and luckily there were not many people on board fighting for a deck chair.

deck chairs

 Because we're traveling in a bay, there's not much waves. Suitable for people who's prone to sea-sickness!

ha long bay!

Food

Activities

Hiking

The cruise includes several activities such as exploring a cave! Our guide brought us "hiking" where shoes were recommended. However, we left all our shoes back in Hanoi! We managed well in just slippers though. This is a dry activity, though all the climbing drenches you in sweat.

If you follow your guide closely enough, she'll explain things like how the sea level was so high millions of years ago that it causes the wave like patterns on the roof of the cave.

cave

more climbing

After all the climbing up the stairs and through the cave, you'll reach the peak of the... island?

view of the bay

 All that climbing really paid off! What a view!



panoramic view of the bay!

Squid Fishing

In the evening, after dinner there's also a KTV session and squid fishing! We totally skipped the KTV and were out to the tender boat in hopes of catching some squid!

squid fishing!

 I caught a crab instead!

Tai Chi

tai chi

If you're able to wake up early enough, there's tai chi classes in the morning at 6.30am.

 Kayaking

On the second day, we went kayaking in the bay!