We had decided to go a bit upmarket for our Halong Bay experience because we have friends who didn’t enjoy their budget outings. We were collected at 0800 for our 3.5h transfer to Halong City’s port. We took a stop a handicraft centre en route for a break and shopping (for the gullible).
We departed on our cruise after midday with a high-quality buffet lunch served shortly after departure. Cruising through the limestone cliffs that dot Halong Bay was pretty spectacular.
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- This tourist trap (handicraft centre) hasn’t heard of customer privacy yet … it is a relatively new concept over here. They display their happy customers’ photos, phone numbers, addresses, emails!
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- Another cruise liner.
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- Around Halong Bay.
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- Around Halong Bay.
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- This boy paddles with his feet. Talented!
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- Shop on the water.
We had two stops through the afternoon. The first was Surprise Cave … supposedly because of the various shapes that one can see in the stalagtites and stalagmites. But for me, the surprise was the sheer size of the cave … even for me, having been to the largest cave system in Mulu (in Sarawak on the Malaysian part of Borneo Island).
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- Boat parking for Surprise Cave.
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- Surprise Cave is surprisingly big.
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- Surprise Cave is surprisingly big.
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- Surprise Cave is surprisingly big.
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- Boat parking for Surprise Cave.
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- Around Halong Bay.
Next was Tiptop Island where one could climb to the summit and then cool off in the water or relax on the beach.
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- From Tiptop Island.
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- At Tiptop Island. Our boat on the left.
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- From Tiptop Island.
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- From Tiptop Island.
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- On top of Tiptop Island.
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- At Tiptop Island. Our boat on the left.
A cooking demonstration preceded the restaurant-standard set dinner. Together with the bright cheerful cabin, we were very pleased to have chosen this cruise!
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- On our boat.
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- Our room.
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- On our boat.
