A trip to Vietnam from south to north - Part 3

Let's continue where I left off in my second post..

Day 6: On this day, we checked out early in the morning and started our journey to Halong Bay. Ha Long Bay (also "Halong Bay") is in northern Vietnam, 170 km (105 mi) east of Hanoi. The bay is UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous for its scenic ocean karst topography and is often included in lists of natural wonders of the world. We booked 2 day and 1 night cruise on Glory Cruise which costed us 230 USD per couple for deluxe rooms with balcony at upper deck. Journey from Hanoi old quarter to Halong Bay was 4-5 hr which was organized by the tour agent and was part of the package. We reached to the cruise terminal around 12 afternoon and were asked to wait in cruise lounge for formalities and boat transfer to the cruise.

Here are small transfer boats,

Here is our cruise,

After safety briefing and check-in we had delicious food,

Next, We were ready for an evening activity which was canoeing or boat trip. I decided to do canoeing with Suresh and rest were more happy with boat trip :)

After the activity we all were back to the boat to relax and leisure. Enjoyed thoroughly swimming in middle of the sea. Evening in Halong Bay was spectacular,

Lovely ladies,

Cheers for the lovely evening,

Day was well spent and all were exhausted so we call it a day without night out :)

Day 7: I've heard lot about Halong Bay sunrise so decided to go on time for some snaps and I was not disappointed at all,

After breakfast we were ready to go for stunning Sung Sot Cave tour. Sung Sot Cave, which means Cave of Surprises, is the biggest and finest cave in Halong Bay. It actually got its name from the French, who called it grotte des surprises, or grotto of surprises. It is located on Bo Hon Island, near the centre of Halong Bay, within the vicinity of other sights such as Titov Island, Bo Nau Grotto, Me Cung Cave and Luun Grotto. There is a small pier where boats dock to allow visitors down. From the pier, a flight of 50 stone steps takes one to the entrance of the cave. The inside of Sung Sot Cave is simply cavernous. At many places the ceiling is low, and takes on a wavy appearance. A profusion of stalactites and stalagmites cover the walls. Here are some shots,
Ha long bay view from Sung Sot Cave

At entrance

Inside cave

After cave tour we return back to the cruise for check-out formalities and headed to Hanoi by 12 PM.We reached Hanoi by 5 PM and decided to spend some time around Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake.
Hoan Kiem Lake in the lights

The Huc Bridge, Hoan Kiem Lake

After photo session we hired a green tourist electric car for 100,000 Dong per adult for an hour to drive around the Old Quarter.You can hire them from the north side of Hoan Kiem Lake, opposite the Water Puppet Theater. This was our last activity in Hanoi before starting overnight journey to Sapa.
Let's talk about Sapa in final post of our Vietnam trip :)