Our first adventure in northern Vietnam took us to Halong Bay, probably the most famous tourist spot in the country and a beautiful area filled with mountains, beaches, and incredible sunsets! With the carnival culture from Rio not quite out of our systems, we booked onto a 3 day party boat with Oasis Cruises and we definitely don’t regret it.

After a few short hours outside Hanoi we were on board and totally impressed! We were greeted by Patrick/Paddy/Pauline (there were many more names that right now escape me) who was our host for the next few days and definitely a big part of what made our Halong Bay trip such a highlight.

The rooms were also well above expectations! We narrowly dodged booking the Castaways Cruise back in Hanoi after finding out it was purely a 3 day drinking fest (seemed like a waste in such an amazing location), but didn’t expect such a plush bedroom either…

After admiring our new abode, we hopped back upstairs for lunch! I could talk for a long time about but I’ll be quick and say it was also really impressive! Here’s some photos…

…plus the 3 espresso martini’s Jamie ordered to go with his lunch because why not 😂

Next activity was a definite first for me! ‘Beer Yoga’, or in my case Voda Lemonade Yoga! We watched the sun set over the bay from top deck as we contorted our bodies in ways that I didn’t think possible, with the added challenge to bending down (often no-handed) each time to take a sip of our drinks! I am now a fan of yoga!!

We spent the rest of the night partying all over the boat, playing copious amounts of drinking games (including the longest line of Flip Cup I’ve ever been in) and racking up what seemed like a ridiculous bar tab until we remembered we were in Vietnam… great feeling! 😅

Early start the next morning (apparently the Vietnamese approach to recovering from a night out, and not a tradition I will be carrying forward with me in life) to make our way to our second and final nights stay on a private island. Awesome views of the bay along the way to our next destination…

As we approached the island there was already an excitement amongst the group that we’d have this tiny slice of paradise all to ourselves for the next 24 hours.

When we reached dry land I got an end better look at our new home and it was pretty amazing.

Two beaches, a pool table, incredible views, great music and more tasty food… this place literally had everything! Okay so the beers were lukewarm inside a fridge that acted as little more than a cupboard, but no one cared. This place was perfect.

We even had the chance to try some Kayaking. After partnering with Jamie the first time and nearly wanting to drown us both, I found myself a new partner and we set off to explore a little more of the bay!

Dan is loving life! 🤟

The evening consisted of a lovely dinner with views far exceeding the streets of suburban Reading back at home. Thanks charlie for bringing the class to this photo…

Another night in Halong Bay means another night of partying with Oasis Cruises and the drinking games soon began. This time chandelier took centre stage and taking on a dirty pint consisting of beer, vodka, rum, and goodness knows what else definitely started my night with a bang.

As people dropped off ahead of another early start, there were a few of us left… me and Jamie were determined to stay awake the whole night. A feat only Jamie achieved after a well timed ‘tactical nap’ in the afternoon. Here he is in his element ordering 15 BEERS at 3.30am with only 4 of us still awake 😂😂

Two brilliant nights down, we headed back to the boat for our final few hours in the bay. Johnny or Fuk, the local element to our host double act (and may favourite Vietnamese person) taught us how to make spring rolls and we had one last meal together before departing!

This really was an unforgettable experience and we’d go on to spend the next week travelling Northern Vietnam with the friends we’d made!

More on that in the next post…