{"id":1565,"date":"2023-10-29T06:34:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T06:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/?p=1565"},"modified":"2024-12-09T03:55:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T03:55:08","slug":"so-long-ha-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/29\/so-long-ha-long\/","title":{"rendered":"So Long, Ha Long"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Activity level: \ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modes of transportation: \ud83d\udea3\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\ud83d\udea2\ud83d\ude90\ud83d\udc5f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We woke up early and had breakfast, which really hit the spot. After that, we had kayaking in a protected cove where the only entrance was through a cave. Sarah was relieved to know that these kayaks were tandem (though she did much of the paddling). It was kind of funny: the life vests were all US Army branded, so they must have been surplus. They worked great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eric didn\u2019t trust Sarah to hold the phone on the kayak so most of these will be of her. We got this fun accidental pic in the phone handoff though.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Entrance to the protected cove<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Can\u2019t believe the only way to get here was through the small cave.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We heard everyone whooping and hollering, and weren\u2019t really sure why. We found out afterwards that, similarly to Phi Phi, there were wild monkeys on the island that come near the shoreline because tourists feed them. Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t see any\u2014mostly because we weren\u2019t looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We now know there are monkeys all over these cliffs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Heading back to the boat! You can see the cove is on the other side of the cave. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finished with that, we showered, changed, and packed up our stuff (we\u2019re going to have to start keeping track of how many days we had to pack up). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another day, another pack.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With our rooms cleared out, we went to the top deck to enjoy the views, before heading down to the main dining area for a cooking class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One last look at the bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our class was rolling fried spring rolls. It was a lot of fun, even if our rolls ended up kind of wonky and non-uniform. We ended up having them for lunch anyway, and they tasted great! We also sat back with the Taiwanese women for lunch, and during conversation, learned that they were 43 and 39, respectively. We were both floored since we had assumed they were in their mid 20s. Sarah got their skincare routine (and it did explain how they were able to travel to as many countries as they had).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We said our goodbyes and traded pictures, then we got off the boat and waited for our bus at a coffee shop. We decided to get an egg coffee, which may have been a mistake. Eric\u2019s stomach started to turn a little, and it felt a little off for the rest of the ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But it looked so good.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our return bus was luxurious, with full leather seats and lots of room\u2014so at least Eric was suffering in comfort. We ended up blogging a little and sleeping when we could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Deluxe bus!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we ended up back to our original hotel. Honestly, we had a debate (both on both sides) about whether we should switch hotels, but the concierge, Brian, was so nice that we decided we couldn’t, despite the cockroaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian immediately greeted us on the curb and seemed super excited to see us. He had bought flowers for our honeymoon and put us in his nicest room, where he had left a small cake for congratulations. It was so nice, and it made Sarah want to cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From our host: Roses for love, plus \u201cmoney flowers\u201d because we are young and \u201cneed much money!\u201d (Plus a cake)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We got new cozy quarters with a beautiful balcony view of the city below.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At this point, Eric wasn\u2019t feeling great, so he pretty much laid in bed and worked on the blog. The hotel people were so nice: they brought Eric an \u201cisotonic drink\u201d which was sort of like Gatorade, and Sarah picked up some medication to try to settle his stomach (they also gave us a 12% beer to help sleep, but we didn\u2019t need any more alcohol\u2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Apparently this is good for egg-coffee related stomach issues. Thanks minions!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Also from the concierge: 12% beer to help us sleep <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was kind of sad to spend the rest of the day in the hotel, but Sarah at least got to try the beef pho that the concierge had suggested (and it was insanely good).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It had a deep and full flavor unlike any Ph\u00f3 in the states we\u2019ve ever had.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The concierge was fairly confident Eric would feel better in the morning after all the remedies he gave us. So he helped us book a discounted tour to visit to Ninh Binh, a mountain range often referred to as the \u201cHa Long Bay on land\u201d for the next day. We also booked our flight to Bangkok for Halloween (a whole day earlier than we had to!) so we could make our flight from Bangkok to Delhi that same night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric took some Diaresq and hoped for the best. We went to bed hoping we would make it to that tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bonus content: one of the Taiwanese friends we made on the boat added Sarah on Instagram. Then we saw this in her profile from the previous night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n