Hanoi - 2D1N Halong Legacy Cruise

23-Nov-2017, Halong Bay - Around 9am, a bus came and picked us from our hotel and off we headed to Halong Bay! I have booked us a 2D1N cruise recommended by an ex-colleague. The name of the cruise is shown in the photo above - Legacy Cruise! All meals included too! The bus ride there was around 3 hours, with a toilet break at a cheesy factory outlet in the middle selling souvenirs etc.

When we finally reached the bay area, we were transferred into a smaller tender boat. Above is our young captain and the registered number of the boat.

We were required to wear life-jackets whenever we are on the boat. And above are all the people whom we will be spending our cruise with. The guy standing is Mr Can, and he is our tour guide for the trip. 

This is still our travel companion, but on a more relaxing mode headed somewhere. There was a mixed of people. Interestingly female travellers made up the majority, with even a solo female Canadian nurse we befriend.

On the cruise ship, everything is made of wood. Above is what the dining area look like. There is also a bar there so you can have drinks and snack, seated there while looking out at the beautiful Halong Bay.

The ship is equipped with a kitchen where all our meals are prepared. It looked like a typical chinese kitchen. The door you see here leads right into the sea. Chinese tea cups are there for the workers attending to us on this trip.

Here's a different view of the kitchen. 

The ship has 3 level. The bottom level is where most of the rooms are located. The 2nd level is where the dining area is. Our room was also located at the 2nd level cause I decided on a sea view room. And at the 3rd level is just an open deck where you can sit and relax and watch Halong Bay cruises by.

It was actually very pleasant to just sit there and watch the world go by, if only it wasn't so bloody cold. We went during the winter turning time, so the temperature was rather low. And when the wind blows, it is better to find cover. Even then,  I spend most of my 2nd day here in the freezing wind just to enjoy the beautiful lime stone island and small floating boats all around. 

Here is a view from outside our room. You can see the tender boat docking near it to let us in and out.  There is another cruise just beside us. You can't imagine how crowded Halong is until you are really there. Note we went during the low season too! I will post more photos of the Halong Bay boat traffic in my future entries. Stay tune!