Ha Long Bay, An Overnight Cruise Surrounded by Beauty and the Rest of my Time with Izzy

Day 4 and 5 in Hanoi, we got ready and left for our Ha Long Bay tour! We had to be ready by 8am, our bus picking us up to take us to the pier that our boat was docked at. We woke up at 6:45am, needing to still pack for our trip, so smartly keeping our booking for hotel room for that night so we could just take a small backpack and not haul all of our things. We packed our backpacks with clothes and bathroom supplies, funny enough we both packed our speakers knowing the importance of music to fill any moment of down time we might have. 

We got picked up right at 8am, and then we were on the road to Ha Long Bay. This city is really not that close to Hanoi. It’s actually about 3 hours away. We got a nice coach bus and rode in luxury. It was really nice compared to some of our other tightly packed 12 seater van rides. This was exactly what we needed for our ride to stay comfortable and energized. 

We stopped twice, once for a very quick bathroom break, which I have been putting back waters like a sailor drinking beer, so I was grateful for the stop. We then drove for two hours and made our second stop which was a longer one. For 45 minutes, we stopped at this bougie rest stop that had a pearl museum, apparently Ha Long bay is a major hub for pearl harvesting, so we got a demonstration on how they do it, we got a free look at their mini museum, and we got to stroll around the store inside. Sadly the pearls were well above my budget, but I did get to dream for a moment. The dream being that this is definitely something I would buy if I had infinite amounts of money, but until then, I will settle with a great appreciation for them in their pretty clean case. 

We got back on the bus and had just a 20 minute ride to the harbor. We stayed close to our tour guide as the harbor was packed with many other tourists getting on their cruise line of choice. We didn’t hop right on the mother boat, but instead took a little charter boat to our big one. It was a decently long process. If you remember we woke up at 6:45am to get on the bus at 8am, we finally got on our big ship at 1pm. Hungry, with bags still on our backs we were ledto the dining hall where they served us food as the first thing to do. We had a great table, with an awesome view against the window looking out at the bay. It was quite the fine dining experience, we got around 3 appetizers, a main dish, and then a dessert. It was table style so everything we were given, we would split. Izzy and I loved the foodie experience, trying new things. One of those being pumpkin soup, a popular dish of Vietnam but neither of us willing enough to use our stomach space on something as simple as that when we were at prior restaurants. But now with it in front of our face wanting to be tried, we finally got around to it. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was good and I was definitely happy to say I had it during my time here. 

We were stuffed with food and finally able to check into our rooms. They gave us some free time to get acquainted, we both unpacked, changed into swimsuits, and savored the view from our balcony. The room had pure glass for the wall that looked out onto the bay, it was wonderful. We had a photo moment, and then went up to check out the views from the sky deck. Lovely the views were, but we went back down to take part in the first activity they had for us. We got to kayak around the bay. We parked in this secluded area and they pulled out the kayaks for us. Izzy and I paddled with ease, making it a trip for the sights and not for the workout. I was a bit scarred from my last kayaking trip (my last day in Croatia when the kayaking trip almost got canceled due to inclement weather, and upon reflection it should have gotten canceled because it was so hard the enjoyment went away.) But thankfully that didn’t happen on this ride and we would paddle then stop and then continue again. Chatting about being here, seeing these amazing views, and again, in awe that we finally made it to a dream destination for so many people. 

After kayaking we went swimming, I got to jump in off the boat which was fun (photo captured by the goat tour guide on his samsung). The current was oddly hefty, we kept getting pulled toward the boat but when we tried to swim out further, Izzy felt something wrap around her leg and then a sharp sting to follow… jellyfish. Poor girl got stung while swimming, she was a tough cookie though and persevered through the pain. A kind British mother gave Izzy some cream which she said helped a lot. I left swimming when Izzy did, wanting to make sure she was ok and feeling content with my time in the water. We also got to try some bitter bitter Vietnamese tea, one that has many great health benefits claimed by the boat captain that brought it and shared it with all of us. It was some of the strongest tasting tea, reminding me something of an incredibly stiff drink of alcohol: terrible taste, yet you still take another sip. Once we finished up our tea, we headed to our rooms, regrouped, and got ready for the night portion of the evening. We got to see some great new views as we continued on cruising, and by 6pm, we parked at our sleeping area for the night. 

We chatted during the designated happy hour, Izzy and I did not get drinks and were the only ones not to do so because we were the easily the youngest by at least 10 years and a full-time salary behind. The waiters even looked at us funny for not getting anything, they must not get a lot of broke college students on this cruise line. We then had a cooking class on how to make crunchy spring rolls, getting to roll up our own that we would eat for dinner! It was perfect because Izzy really wanted to do a cooking class while here but each city either there wasn’t a vegetarian one or it wasn’t very affordable. This was the perfect way for her to still get what she wished and to fit it in last minute!

After our cooking class we got to watch the sunset (more so the day turning into night) as we said goodbye to the beautiful view as the darkness covered it for the time being. Soon enough we ventured to dinner, getting another 5 course meal, filling ourselves to the max. We tried stargazing as they mentioned that as an option for an activity to do at night, but it was a mix of clouds and light that hid them from us. There was also some karaoke, which I’m not the biggest fan of and Izzy kindly understood, and the third option was squid fishing… so you can probably guess Izzy and I went with option number 4 which was go back to our rooms, finally chill for the night, and get ready for our early start of Tai Chi lessons at 5:45am. We were actually so good and went to bed at the time we said, 9:30pm. We kept the curtains open because our boat was parked on the side of the cliff so no one could see in our window, and we thought it would be great to wake up to the sun. When we turned off the lights we were expecting it to be blackout dark. But, there was enough light on the cliffs that we could actually see a dark outline of the limestone mountains and it was actually so cool. We ended up talking, eyes open, staring at our view we didn’t think we would have. We noticed how the boat swayed as the frame we saw would slightly shift and alter. When the fatigue hit us both hard, we crashed for the night.

5am, alarm going off, with hopes to see the sunrise. We kinda missed the timing because it was already light outside. The sun rises so early in the morning and it happens so fast it never fails to blow my mind. I stayed up and went to the balcony to savor the view and just rest in its presence. But we had to get ready for our tai chi lessons on the sun deck, which we were the last ones to show up and they started without us lol. But it was cool to learn a common Vietnamese practice, slow tai chi done by lots of seniors because it focuses on breathing with simple movements. The lesson was only 15 minutes, and I was too distracted with trying to follow the right footsteps and arm movements that I lost focus on the breathing which is the most important part of it. But I stayed up there a bit longer past the lesson to stretch a bit and that is what felt nice. We ate a small breakfast, fruit, toast, and coffee/tea/juice. Just enough to fill us up for our bamboo boat trip. We took the charter boat over to Lan Ha Bay, only a ten minute ride, so that we could have another row boat type experience to see this smaller bay that has these caves that lead to these smaller enclosed bays. It was cool to do, I was a bit out of focus from being tired that I stared out in a daze but at the same time using all of my energy to appreciate it, because it was a great view and I felt so lucky to have all these opportunities to see more of the Bay.

After the bamboo boat ride, we went back to the boat, cruised around, and had some free time to get packed up. We then headed up for our brunch, I was surprisingly hungry enough for a full meal, the time now being 9:45am, but I had been awake at this point for almost 5 hours so it wasn’t too far off par to be ready to eat again. Plus I was ready to fill myself up so I wouldn’t need any snacks or food on our ride back home. Full I was and we headed back the way we came, on the charter boat and then on the bus. Sadly we didn’t get the deluxe bus we had on the way there, but I think we were all distracted with fatigue to care. I tried to sleep a bit but it wasn’t coming so I read and finished my book Year of Yes! I started the next, Hidden Potential, a psychology book by one of my favorite academics/researchers Adam Grant. So far, so good, and excited to learn the lessons on how each of us can unlock our potential and how we don’t need to be born with any insane talent in order to achieve great things. I also looked through the photos and here is a slideshow of my favorites.

I was now starting to internalize the fact that Izzy was leaving me.. Tonight… I couldn’t stomach it. The thought that now I would be alone. I clung to her side that night, soaking up every minute I had left with my best friend, counting down the hours I would have her with me. It was so sad as each moment passed, knowing I had so much fun with her, the bar being set too high, and the fear of having to go at it alone and the complete unknown in my future. This was when my head began to spin in worry and fear, I struggled my way through the night, telling Izzy she couldn’t leave, asking her for advice on how to continue on without her. It was hard to think I could. How would soloing go? Part of me fears it won’t be as good as this. You read about, we made the most of our time and had so much fun together. You know it, I know it, the real question is will it continue? And that's what I wondered, and that's why I cried when I hugged my best friend goodbye as she hopped in the car that lead her back to Lakeville, home.