The only other event that night was Mimi learning that there are consequences for being so adorable. As we were walking home, she starting crying out of the blue. At first, we assumed it was the gremlin coming out because somebody was out past her bedtime. But this cry was stronger and louder. We looked her over from head to toe, and she looked fine. Then we recalled the bun cha chef/grandmother coming out from behind the kitchen after chopping vegetables. We figured that she must have been cutting some chilis before hugging Mimi, and Mimi must have just rubbed her eyes.
But a day later, it appeared that Mimi wasn’t going to let some chili oil keep her down. She went right back to her old ways; this time, charming people from a moving vehicle.
We were headed out for our last adventure of the trip. And this was the big one. We were going to Ha Long Bay, a true wonder of the world, and one of the destinations that we built our entire trip around.
On the advice of multiple fellow travelers, guidebooks, and even Sue herself, we were going to spend the night in a boat on the middle of the bay. I couldn’t have been more excited. But first, we had a three hour bus ride to get there. Hence Mimi charming half of Hanoi from a moving vehicle.
Our guide for the trip was Jimmy, a charming, extremely energetic, late 20-something that frequently referred to himself in the third person. “Jimmy’s going to tell you the history of Ha Long Bay.” “Can Jimmy get you any water?” “Jimmy wants everybody to have happy vacation.”
We made a couple of pit stops on the way out, but the drive was surprisingly easy. Although, changing a diaper on a minibus is just as challenging as you might expect. Sorry, fellow passengers.
We arrived at the docks of Ha Long Bay around noon. There was the usual blend of 1970s Soviet buildings, brand new resorts, and the decaying bones of construction projects stopped in their tracks after the frame was built. It was delightfully charming.
After the previous wave of passengers disembarked, we took a little dinghy to our ship.
You can see one of the halted construction projects over Tom’s shoulder.
There are dozens of ships that tour the bay. Travelers can choose from simple day boats, floating four star hotels, and everything in between. And when in doubt, let Sue pick. I told her that we wanted something comfortable, but not too fancy. As always, she came through in a big way.
Yes, that's a crib. On a boat. You’re too good to us, Sue.
Unsurprisingly, our water baby Mimi was excited to explore the boat. But first she had to get hydrated.
There were 16 cabins on our ship, and about 20-25 passengers. After everybody dropped their bags off in their cabins, we had lunch with the captain and learned about the ship. Short version: life jackets over here, full bar over there. That’s all we really needed to know.
With the introductions behind us, we sailed off into the bay. Our boat pulled the dinghy behind it, and we re-boarded it around 3pm to take a couple of excursions to various islands.
The first stop was a series of limestone caves carved into one of the islands. But before we hiked down into them, we climbed up to a beautiful lookout over the bay. This was our first real look across the entire Ha Long Bay, and it was nothing short of breathtaking.
You might want to sit down for this.
Ha Long Bay is unquestionably one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Our stop would have been worth it for just the views from the lookout, but the caves themselves were actually pretty cool, too.
Ok, one last look before we walk back down to the boat.
Unbelievable.
Our next stop was on a little island that was 50% beach. The remaining area was made up of steps leading 500 feet up to a historic pagoda. We went with the beach option.
A couple of days prior (at our Hanoi hotel), we had met an Australian family with a baby that was Mimi’s age. They had also been to Ha Long Bay, but then had to cancel the next several days of activities because their baby caught a bad stomach bug. The parents were convinced that she picked up the bug at the same beach that we were heading to. And even though their theory didn’t fully add up medically, it was still hard to relax at a beach while thinking about the potential for 36 hours of baby diarrhea while flying over the Pacific Ocean.
Unsurprisingly, Mimi loved the beach, and nobody got sick.
Around 6 pm, we took the dinghy back to our ship and got ready for dinner. And let me tell you, in a country full of amazing food, this meal was in a league of its own. We were served course after course after course of the most incredible dishes we had ever eaten. It was probably the best meal of my life. And on top of that, Jimmy and the crew kept Mimi busy the entire time, so Aimee and I could eat with both hands.
After we put Mimi to bed, Aimee and I grabbed a couple of gin and tonics from the ship's bar. We opened our cabin windows to let the sea breeze in, and we discussed the various occupational and lifestyle decisions that we would need to make for us to come back here again very soon.
We’re really going to miss this country.
