50shadesofbrave

A trip out to Halong Bay was pretty much a non-negotiable on this trip. Sandwiched into my Hanoi stay, I booked myself onto a 2-day / 1-night cruise and decided that this would be my ‘treat’ to self… so booked myself a suite with its own terrace.

Sounds good, no? Well, I have to tell you, it was even better than good!!

Halong Bay is a 2.5 hour trip from Hanoi. I was picked up by the cruise company at 8:15, and after picking up a couple more travellers, we were on the road. When we arrived at the cruise terminal at around 11, we were greeted with cold towels and ginger tea, along with a number of company staff, amongst whom Simon, the cruise director. Myself and three other couples had individual conversations with Simon, who informed us that we were being upgraded from a ‘Classic’ cruise, to their newest ship the Bhaya Soul. He assured me I would be delighted with this… and that I was being given the best suite on board. Sounded ok to me! We were to be speed-boated out to the ship, which was already in the Bay, in time for lunch.

From the moment we arrived at the ship, the luxury kicked in. The staff could not do enough. We had a personal member of staff, Timothy, whose job it was to ensure all was well. I was given my key and headed up to deck 2, where my suitcase was already waiting outside my door. I’ll be honest, nothing could have prepared me for what I found when I opened the door…so uncouth am I that I made a video of the suite and sent it to my kids, with a voice over that clearly conveyed my astonishment 😂

The suite was, apparently, some 80m sq… there was a massive bed, a lounge corner with sofa and chair, a minibar (complimentary), a huge bathroom with freestanding bath, and separate shower and loo. And a sun terrace right at the bow of the ship, with table and chairs and daybed. Shame the weather didn’t play ball enough for me to make use of it. It was all decorated in shades of sea blue and aqua… absolutely stunning.

As part of my package, I had full board, several activities and a complimentary foot massage. I also had numerous ‘gifts’ – a silk shawl, a fan, a Panama hat (which I left behind lol), a dried kumquat for bedtime, a slug of rice wine after dinner, and a bag of cookies for the journey back to Hanoi!! I did a sleep meditation under the stars, and two boat trips – one around one of the bays we were moored in, and one to visit a floating village. The food… was just amazing. We had a 3-course lunch and 5-course dinner. I thought I was going to burst.

We cruised around numerous little bays and around huge rock formations. I had been warned that it would be very busy with boats, but actually I didn’t find it too bad. What was disappointing was the amount of rubbish – mainly polystyrene and plastic – floating on the surface of the water. Very sad to see.

I had an excellent night’s sleep. I could have stayed at least another night (reminiscent of what I felt about The Float Hotel on the River Kwai last year in Thailand). It was pure luxury. And my ‘treat’ to self ended up being worth four times what I had actually paid for it! I’m seldom that lucky, but I guess I must have done something to deserve it.

Anyway, back in Hanoi now, and will update the blog with tales from that city soon. Meanwhile, feast your eyes on some pics from Halong Bay…