Halong Bay is situated 4 hours west of of Hanoi and is one of the most popular and appreciated destinations in Vietnam. The main attraction is a leisurely cruise aboard a Junk (flat-bottomed sailing vessel with a prominent stem and lugsails), amidst the 1,969 islands/karsts that populate the bay.
The tough question is: "Which company/boat should you choose?". There are hundreds of companies that offer Halong Bay cruises for all budgets. As much as the reviews show the cruises are loved, they are also hated by a lot of people: crowds / too many boats in the bay, rats/cockroaches in the boats, sinking boats, bad food or crew, etc.. We were lucky enough to run into a family in Hoi An who highly highly recommended Indochina Junk. Indochina Junk is currently the only company that is licensed to cruise and stay in Bai Tu Long Bay - a less frequented part of Halong. Since the cruise also included activities such as kayaking, swimming, visiting caves & visiting a fishing village, we were sold and booked a 3 day 2 night cruise. Unfortunately, since it's high season and Indochina Junk has such a good reputation, it meant waiting an extra 3 days in Hanoi before their next availability….but it was worth the wait.
Unlike other Halong Bay cruises where you will encounter hundreds of boats at each stop, we only saw a handful. One sad thing that we found out is that since April 2012, the government decided that all tourist Junks in Halong Bay must be painted white instead of showing their natural teak colours. It's too bad because it makes the boats look more like yachts, instead of traditional Junks (even if nowadays the sails are just for show).
During the cruise, we stopped a couple of times to paddle around the islands in sea kayaks and enjoy a quick swim in really cold water :)
On our second day, we also visited one of the Halong bay fishing villages where we were welcomed and served tea by the village leader. These village were built by the locals so that they could seek shelter during typhoon and live with their family. Surprisingly, the village we visited was only founded 20 years ago. Prior to that, the families just lived in their small fishing boats and anchored their boats in that area at night. Now that they've built a floating village, there are several houses, a fish farm, and even a school. Most of the buildings are made on land and then dragged 30km to the floating village where they are then anchored to the island.
For our last dinner, we were treated to a romantic, candle-lit, seafood BBQ, inside a cave on one of the islands.
The food was excellent and the crew spoiled us with their service. For each meal, the chef made some amazing vegetable carvings and on the last day, did a quick demo of how they do the carvings… it was pretty cool (even if he occasionally cheated by using a bit of super glue ;))
Lastly, here are a few stats about our boat: The Dragon Pearl 2 is made of teak and took about 2 years to build. It has 11 rooms (each with private bathroom and hot water), 2 dining rooms (one indoor, one outdoor), and a sun deck that we couldn't take full advantage of since it was pretty cold outside (fortunately we at least managed to get a half-day of sun). Our cruise had 17 passengers and about 13 crew including a guide, captain, 3 cooks, 4 waiters, bartender, and boat manager.
We thoroughly enjoyed our experience away from the crowds with Indochina Junk, and recommend it to anyone planning to do a Halong Bay cruise. The only thing we might recommend doing differently is to come when it's a bit warmer so you can enjoy the sun deck and swimming a bit more :)
