I don’t think you can ever buy a great tour of Halong bay for under 90 dollars.
My tour cost 89 bucks and I am not sure it was worth it, besides the 20 mins of cruising the actual Halong bay this morning from Cat Ba island (blessed by the shining sun and the gentle waves).
Me and another 15 people, average age 25 years old (!), embarked on many buses, minivan and boats and got to cruise in a less known route of the bay (unknown for a reason, I would say) and to sleep on a tiny island called Cat Ong.
The highlight of the trip was passing by these small floating fishermen villages, suspended on the water and facing the hairy rocks in a scenery that could belong to a Japanese cartoon.
Regardless of the young age, I got to meet many nice sweet people:
Tamara, the Hungarian girl who I spent the most time with, she lives in China, studies business and also teaches english in a kindergarten;
Cecile, danish, 20 years old, on a break from school, she is afraid of deep waters and didn’t go kayaking;
Resmus, 22 year old guy from Denmark, in dispair as he doesn’t yet know what college to pick. He started business last year but dropped out after 4 months because he hated it.
He thinks that at 22 you should know what you want and not mess around (oh, kiddo!).
Talking with him was like talking to an innocent kid who can only speak the truth and asks the hardest questions without knowing; so did you like what you studied? Is that what you really wanted to do? Are you happy to go to work everyday? Why are you not a writer?
The bus to Hoi An I am on right now looks like the one me and Bezza took to go from Yangshuo to Shenzhen- a sleeping double decker with very comfortable seats.
Most of the passengers are westerners, Israelis, brits, South Africans, French, Moroccans.
We will get to Hue tomorrow at 8.30 and the next bus to Hoi An will be at 1pm.
I am fine with all of this, but someone has to tell the driver to change the music.
a thing or two 