Halong Bay – Not As Impressive As It Looks on Instagram (Especially When The Sky Is Overcast)

When I visited Hanoi last year, everyone told me it’s a MUST to visit Halong Bay. So, way before embarking on the trip, I started researching on Halong Bay excitedly. The pictures looked perfect, especially on Instagram, and almost everyone had positive comments about Halong Bay. This caused my expectation to soar sky high, and my travel companion and I booked a Halong Bay 1-Day Tour with Sinh Tourist Vietnam.

If you’re still clueless, Halong Bay is a natural wonder in Northern Vietnam near the Chinese border. The Bay consists 1,600 limestone islands and islets, and covers an area of over 1,500 square kilometres. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, and had been featured in numerous movies. Joining a Halong Bay tour is probably the most convenient way to visit the area.

Due to the gloomy sky, I was quite disappointed with Halong Bay’s scenery. My favourite activities were exploring the colourful caves and taking a 20-minutes bamboo boat ride instead. There are countless places to stop for trekking, swimming, fishing, snorkeling and kayaking but due to time constraint, we did not do any of these. I hope I’ll be able to spend 2 nights aboard a boat the next time I visit Halong Bay, so there will be enough time to try more activities.

I might not have experienced the best of Halong Bay, but it was still an enjoyable trip because I went with the right travel companion. I will definitely update again when I re-visit Halong Bay (hopefully in the near future).