Every place that was planned for us was what ...
Vietnam
|
Mar 2 - Mar 6, 2025
Every place that was planned for us was what I imagined in trying to get to know the north region of Ha Noi. Even though the weather was not sunny, the Ha Long Bay was mysterious, when shrouded in clouds. We arrived in Ha Noi, after a busy weekend in Saigon at a wedding but we felt that we could relax the first two nights in our hotel and also on the one night on Capella Cruise. The meals cruise meals were fantastic. We only joined the rooftop 6:00 AM Tai Chi activity, which in the mist of Halong Bay was so memorable. Our driver, Guong? (Means strong in English) was sweet and helpful at every turn). He used English as best he could to point out important sites. Our guide Mr. Win was knowledgeable, but he seemed tired, especially on the first day. I don’t feel we learned a lot about the Old Capital. The Pagoda was OK. Our guide seemed young and in need of some better social skills. Our rower on the Tam Coc tour was amazing, and my husband asked a lot of questions through our guide about the life in that Ninh Binh area. I loved the cooking class in the traditional house. The young woman (never caught her name) was quite fluent in English, and helped her aunt in teaching us recipes.
Hotel Review
Our room was a river level with a deck, and was so peaceful and elegantly appointed. The meals were superior, and we especially like the salad bar area. I think the desserts could have more variety, but that is minor. They had a self-made dark honey that I had every meal with yogurt. We were tired from our busy weekend and traveling from Saigon, but never felt pressured to go to the many activities offered. We are so glad that we didn’t miss the Tai chi on the roof of the boat at 6:00 AM with misty mountains in the background and the Vietnamese zither playing. Such a memorable experience. All the crew were very nice and did multiple duties with joy. I would recommend, to someone (Cruise companies, government, Heritage committees, etc), that a greater effort be made to keep the bay clean. I did not want to go swimming in it because of the many pieces of floating trash. Eventually this will get worse, and tourists won’t want to come.