Eva and I spent 4 weeks in Ha Long at the most amazing BnB. I feel like this debrief is influenced largely by my one complaint, but it was, I feel, justified as it was an every day problem. That said, I don’t want to dissuade anybody from visiting because it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
What was the most surprising thing about Ha Long?
Eva: How quiet it was. Without the tourism, it really had a drastically quieter atmosphere than I expected.
Ehren: The view from our balcony was astounding. I’d seen pictures before, but when we arrived at our apartment and looked out over the bay, I was blown away. I agree with Eva though, it was totally different than anywhere else we’d been in Vietnam: way less chaotic.
Scale of 1-10, how easy is it for a US Citizen visiting for the first time to communicate and find the things you need?
Eva: 6 with technology.
Ehren: I know I’ve been tough on Vietnam, but this was the smallest, least worldly place we’ve been, up there with Dalat, so very few people speak English. I’d stick with 4. It’s not difficult, but with few restaurant selections and having to deal with locals who don’t speak English, it’s not super smooth.
What would you change about this trip?
Eva: I don’t know how I would’ve prepared for expanding the dining experience. I wanted more food options.
Ehren: We spent 2 out of 4 weekends away from Ha Long while we had this amazing view. I’m not saying I regret the trips to Hanoi and Cat Ba, but we could only go to the good restaurants in Ha Long on weekends because they didn’t open until 5pm and I had professional commitments beginning at 6pm. It’s by far the most beautiful place we’ve been and we didn’t have a lot free time to enjoy the atmosphere on the weekends.
How long would you optimally stay there (+/- how long we stayed)?
Eva: I think I could’ve stayed here a lot longer. I would’ve been happy spending all of our Vietnam time (6 months) here.
Ehren: I’m going to say 4 weeks was pushing my limits, maybe 3 weeks would be optimal, just because there were so few food options. I know I sound spoiled. We didn’t find good beef options at the grocery, so it was a lot of chicken and ground pork with pasta. The only two places that delivered food were Pizza Hut and KFC, but Grab (Asian Uber Eats) was largely unavailable and ordering on their sites was unreliable at best. The only places we enjoyed eating were Papas BBQ and the Red Lion Pub but I could only go there on weekends as they didn’t open until 5pm. The city was amazingly beautiful, but every place we went to eat, Indian, burgers, etc., they were either closed or overpriced and not very good.
Could you move/live here?
Eva: I don’t think I could because of the temperature. If it weren’t for that, I could learn how to order what food I want online.
Ehren: Hard no. I was bored of the food options after a week. Even if COVID hadn’t shut down several of them, our sensibilities did not align.
What did you learn about travel?
Eva: Don’t choose Green Lion Bus because they didn’t communicate or coordinate, had a transition to a different bus on the way to Hanoi and just then didn’t show up to drive us back.
Ehren: That Google is largely unreliable right now. Every time we took a taxi to a restaurant which showed as Open online, we’d get dropped off to discover that it was closed due to COVID. Then we’d soak and hike in the warm humidity until we found something agreeable. This happened at least a half a dozen times during the 4 weeks we spent in Ha Long.
Anything else you want to add?
Eva: Really, I want to reiterate that nature is the reason to go. The bay, the islands, the mountains, the fishing villages is why you go there.
Ehren: I feel like I really tore them down because of the food options. But Ha Long was amazing. The walkability was way better than anywhere else we’ve been in Vietnam. The view, the pinnacles, the water were all fantastic. All of the tours we booked in Ha Long were cancelled, so this really limited our experience to walking around and eating. And eating was an irksome experience. And the taxis were SO confused every time we booked one (in their own city). I recommend using Grab.
Quick Fire Favorites:
Restaurant:
Eva: Red Lion Pub
Ehren: Papa’s BBQ
Hang out Joint:
Eva: King Coffee Ha Long
Ehren: Red Lion Pub
Best Shopping:
Eva: Vincom Plaza
Ehren: Vincom Plaza mall with groceries, movies, etc.
Point of Interest:
Eva: Cat Ba Langur
Ehren: Sunworld… wish it had been open