Ha Long and Hoi An

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Two of the world’s new seven world wonders (as voted by the global population) are in Viet Nam. Lucky us! We had the opportunity to visit one of those two world wonders in May, with the excuse that my parents were coming to visit and of course, they would be interested in at least witnessing one of these great wonders. Out of the two, Sapa and Ha Long Bay, we chose to visit the latter. We really are “water” people, and although Sapa’s green valleys and terraces are misty, we were yearning to spend some time on the sea. The photographs will do much justice to our experience in Ha Long Bay, but a brief description of the luxurious junk we slept on for two nights is in order. The French owned and operated “Bhaya” Cruise is a replica of an Asian junk, except that inside you find exquisite colonial furniture, twenty small yet very romantic cabins, and a dining room with floor to ceiling windows, allowing the guests to take in the inspiring view composed of limestone mounds that jet out of the turquoise blue colored sea. Although the sea was full of very large (the size of a soccer ball) jellyfish, all of us did some night swimming while many guests, my dad included, fished for squid from the lower deck of the Bhaya.

On the second day of our lovely cruise in Ha Long Bay, we were transferred to a smaller day junk that toured us around the immense bay. While the crew prepared our lunch of fresh calamari, fish, and stuffed crab, we ventured out in the sea and parked our kayaks on the deserted white-sand beaches. Fortunately, the jellyfish were not much of a nuisance and we were able to swim through the turquoise water without any worries.

After our cruise in Ha Long Bay, we took my parents to one of our favorite places in Viet Nam…Hoi An. Chadi and I visited Da Nang and Hoi An, located on the central coast on what is known as “China Beach”, last November during the cyclone season. Now in May, the beaches of Hoi An and Da Nang were as gorgeous as we had seen in the travel magazines. We spent four days in the Swiss Belle Resort in Hoi An, swimming in their incredibly long (150 meters in length at least!) beach front swimming pool. My mom and I had some time to get several finely tailored dresses and coats in Hoi An town, while the boys drove around in rented motorcycles. It was very sad to say goodbye to the warm waters of China Beach, but alas, it was time to go back to Ha Noi and get back to work