Embarked on a 6 hr drive from Hanoi to Ha Long town for 2 nights & a private cruise on Ha Long bay, to relax amidst towering limestones islands, explore caves and a swim. That is if they get the engine working….Notably in July of this year, a tour boat sunk from bad weather with 39 mostly Vietnamese from Hanoi died & received only $950 USD compensation.

Before reaching Ha Long Bay we stopped to meet a character that raises snakes: pythons, rat snake. He, like a family in Old Quarter of Hanoi make their own moonshine. Only this guy puts the dead snake coiled into the clear jar with the moonshine. Sign of masculinity I think.

This tourist town of Ha Long is less desirable than the cruise. The town is over developed but unfinished at the same time, a virtual ghost town! It has an amusement park, roller coaster, water park, cable car, ferris wheel that was either deserted or not working. High rise hotels tower during the day & brightly lit by night but vacant or unfinished. A barrage of unfinished modern 4 story condominiums overlook the bay with a paltry number of construction workers. No convenient store accepts credit cards in this tourist town. It is an enigma. AI notes a shift in Chinese tourism trends, overbuilding and high operating costs contribute to ghost town feel.

There is no such thing as quaint seaside town with 1 million inhabitants in Da Long town. Town is modern, sprawling but they got planning all wrong. The only reason to be here is boat ride to the UNESCO site. Like every other tourist back in Hanoi hotel, I would have stayed in Hanoi & taken day trips to these towns rather than stay 2 nights in a ghost town that doesn’t accommodate tourists! Nevertheless, no regrets traveling to Vietnam.

On the other hand, OAT tours delivered with relaxing boat cruise to Ha Long Bay. We took a slow boat to China with 6 accommodating crew. We explored 1 mile of well lit caves before the crowds of tourists could be seen & heard. We returned to our boat for home made lunch then a swim, ice cream and back to the hotel on our slow boat to China. It was a truly magnificent site, the cave well preserved using pathways but the Bay is inundated with, Chris counted 30 private cruise ships and bay littered, despite the UNESCO site. Tonight we walk to loud techno music, crazy lights, against massive outdoor stage with bikini clad dancing women in cages at the Valley Beach Club. God help us! Tomorrow we fly to Seoul, South Korea.