The boat has early starts which isn’t that big a deal since all the children on board are up early anyway….and they are not quiet. The sun also wakes you up! For those who wanting to be up very early, sunrise is 5:15am followed by 6am Tai Chi on the deck. We skipped both on the first morning on the boat but made it for a 6:45am light breakfast.
Between 7:30 and 8am our group split into those returning to Ha Long Passenger Terminal after 1 night and people like us (across multiple boats) who are staying 2 nights on board. We hopped on a smaller “day boat” with a mixed group to transfer to Lan Ha bay. Lucky us had a group of Australian backpackers on board…behaving exactly as the stereotype suggests. Sigh. On the way to Lan Ha Bay we stopped at Bo Hon Island and had the option to kayak at Dark and Bright caves area. This was a no from me due to the twisting. We got to walk through the cave on Bo Hon island instead which was really cool…and full of bats! Then sit for a little at a beautiful beach.
We were then supposed to head to Ba Trai Dao beach (Three Peaches Beach) for swimming in the crystal water and lazing on the white sand. Apparently there was a change of plans and instead they anchored in Lan Ha Bay and people were able to swim in the bay and jump off the boat. I was a little disappointed as I had been looking forward to that particular beach.
Lunch was served on the boat at 12:30 before we started the 1 hour return to Ha Long bay. We had one additional short stop at the Pearl Farm Exhibition Center and Museum to learn how to raise a pearl farm and harvest pearls. It was hugely touristy /sales focused and you could tell most of the people on the boat were not impressed with it and would have much preferred the beach visit. In addition, they left us there for an hour! I was pissed.
We transferred back to our main boat around 3:30pm to freshen up and relax in the cabin as there were no staff on board – they had gone to collect the new overnight guests. From 5-7pm we had another happy hour (cocktails…yum) followed by 7pm dinner. The boat was totally full last night and I was not coping with the noise levels or the people…I drank 7 Long Island iced teas to help lol. We requested a private dinner this time after seeing the dining area was set up for multiple larger groups and eventually they moved us upstairs which was really nice of them.
I didn’t have to take meds this time after I ate shellfish the night before….despite being assured it wasn’t in the food. They definitely had that sorted this time. It was another beautiful sunset as well, we have been lucky with the weather.
Last night on the boat tonight before we transfer to Hue tomorrow!
Mel's Travel Blog 