Ha Long Bay Weekend

And just like that, the weekend is over and I have to say goodbye to Vietnam! 

Today is my last day here, and afterwards, I'm taking a flight to Cambodia. 

We had a fantastic weekend on the coast of Vietnam :) On Friday morning, my group of twelve girls and I took a minibus towards Ha Long Bay - a coastal region that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Over 1800 rocks rise from the water, and there are always small inhabited islands. According to legend, a dragon once inhabited this area, and when he was driven away by the locals, in anger, he smashed the large island into many smaller ones to make it uninhabitable. Exciting, right?

We spent the first night on a cruise ship, which was really cool! We were served delicious meals and participated in activities together, such as visiting a stalactite cave or cooking summer rolls together.

In the evening, there was a small bar up top where we sang karaoke :) 

On the second day, we took a speedboat to the very touristy CAT Ba Island, where we spent the second night in a great hotel. This was booked through an organization :) since we could only take cold showers in our accommodation and the mattresses were not very comfortable, it was a very welcome change. We all enjoyed the pool on the rooftop and had long, hot showers!!

Only the breakfast was a bit unusual; instead of fish skewers or rice and soup with toppings, I prefer to stick with a slice of bread with spread and a scrambled egg, I think :)

We were then picked up by a nice Vietnamese tour guide and went to a nature reserve, where we hiked to an observation point. It was so humid that we were all completely drenched in sweat, but the view was truly worth it.

Afterward, we visited a second stalactite cave that was much prettier and less touched than the first one, as the large crowds of tourists were not present. It’s truly amazing how mass tourism is promoted and demanded here!

As a result, nature and the environment are greatly neglected; for example, the water in Ha Long Bay was super dirty, even though it borders the ocean. You could see trash floating everywhere.

Trash is generally a topic here; although there is a waste collection service that regularly drives through the streets, many people simply leave their garbage lying around. As a result, it really smells strongly of food scraps or excrements. 

Of course not everywhere, but especially in neighborhoods with few shops or businesses and more residential buildings, it is truly unpleasant.

So, that was my time here in Hanoi, Vietnam. An incredibly vibrant and bustling city. I will surely remember all the colors and sounds, and I will miss the friendly people. Moreover, the coffee was really, really delicious and inexpensive; Vietnam is actually the second-largest coffee exporter in the world, so a normal cappuccino here costs at most one euro.

Of course, I will miss the delicious food, especially the rice noodle soup PHỞ and the spring rolls. I really, really enjoyed the tasty vegetarian food here.

THANK YOU, VIETNAM, for the wonderful time❤️🇻🇳

Now it's time to move on; I'm sitting in front of my packed bags, and it’s already getting tight:)) but that’s always the case!

I hope you all start the new week well; I will check in from Cambodiaaaa,

Best regards to everyone,

Your Paula💘