“Please don’t call it a junk! It doesn’t sound good. We call it a cruise ship!” our Vietnamese guide with a British accent, Duc, politely corrected me as I got accustomed to call those large wooden ships cruising Ha Long Bay as “junks” similar to what they call it in Hong Kong. From Halong Plaza Hotel, we were headed to the port for a Ha Long Bay day in this UNESCO Heritage site in the province of Quang Ninh, Vietnam. It is popularly known for its thousands limestone karst picturesquely dispersed on a bay off Ha Long City.
A Ha Long Bay Day Cruise
It is actually my second time in Ha Long Bay. While I would recommend an overnight cruise of Ha Long Bay to get the most of the experience of sleeping on a modern cruise ship and seeing the sunset in the midst of these multitude rock formations, it is still possible to do a Ha Long Bay day cruise for those who have limited time. For this familiarization tour with Cebu Pacific Air and Red Tours, we were only doing a Ha Long Bay day cruise, whichI thought was good so I would know the difference with an overnight tour. By 9am we were already boarded on our cruise ship and headed to Ha Long Bay. Our cruise ship is designed for a day cruise only but has dining facilities and sun deck.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.
