How to find a Halong junk best fit you?

Vietnam has two places that passengers can take cruise: Halong bay and Mekong River. Both of those names are very popular in geographical aspect, and so is cruising destination. This post is going to discuss some general ideas to pick a cruise best fitting interests and budgets

Halong bay, yes it is, the most well-known place of Vietnam for all travelers. Many things making this fame can be listed but the most widely known is twice recognized as Natural World Heritage. And best activity in Halong bay must be sailing. Recent years, cruising trips in Halong widely extend to overnight trip on-board. Today, there is hundreds of cruises (actually wooden junks) operating their business in Halong bay. Due to the rapidly increasing number of Halong junks, the competition has been becoming tougher and tougher which eventually help customers enjoy many benefits. Cruising in Halong bay has never been that easy and cheap

The passengers should know that cruising route here is nearly similar for all junks. Cruise companies just adjust the itinerary a little to best fit to junks’ size and piers then reorder the visiting sites making it sound different. Moreover, the itinerary runs as a circle meaning embark and disembark at the same pier. Each company often has some junks in their fleet then cruises in Halong bay actually can embark everyday. With overnight trips, there are two typical programs: 2 days and 3 days. For longer trips, the passengers are expected to charter the cruise. So when choosing a Halong junk, two features only should be taken into account: boat size (length, width, how many cabins? How many passengers max onboard? ect) and price. This feature is very much different from Mekong cruises which will be told in next post

There is a general rule: the bigger the junk is, the lower privacy it can offer. The junks in Halong today widely differ in size from: very private 01-02 cabin per boat (like Princess cruise), to small ones 5-6 cabins (like Violet and Valentine) up to 14-17 cabins per boat (most popular like: Jasmine, Indochina Sails) and even 32 cabins (like Victory Star cruise). The services on board is various too, from standard ones (as famous, long-standing Bait ho junks), to deluxe and affordable (like Dragon Pearl, Emotion, Oriental Sails), or luxury ones (like Indochina Sails, Ginger, Jasmine) or beyond-your-imagination services of which Violet and Paradise are most typical. Thanks to that, price for a trip here can widely range from about 120$ per person up to 400US$ person for 1 night trip. With longer trip and/or some additional services, the price is more. To sum up, passengers pick a suitable cruise very much depending on the expected privacy and budget. Great news is almost Vietnam cruise agents offering price including all service charges and taxes, then you do not have to pay any extra for taxes.

Based on our own experience (VietnamCruiseTrips.com and HolidayIndochina.com/cruises) and our customers’ feedbacks: the best luxury cruise in Halong bay now is Violet. The luxury services but most affordable cruise is Indochina Sails. The top picked cruises are Jasmine junk and Indochina Sails. The best standard cruise is Bait ho junks

Let it rain! Travelling in South East Asia's wet season

I got up this morning and found my mood so down due to rainy, stormy weather outside. Today, a day in early of October in Hanoi, should a wonderful autumn day with cool breeze, yellow sunshine and extremely comfortable. Riding on my motor bike under cold rain to office, I just thought about travellers who by chance now here in Hanoi. How disappointed they might find because of this unfavorable weather, I thought??? Taking bad mood to office, opened my computer, started surfing Internet for some work then this post appeared in my eyes. Interesting post!!! Happen perfectly match my situation. Yes, it is!!! It's rainy, then ... What's up! Let it rain, we enjoy in our own way!!!

"It’s the rainy season in Southeast Asia. Don’t worry, it probably won’t rain all the time – probably just in the afternoon (admittedly, rather a lot). Even though the rainy season gets a bad reputation, chances are you’ll get sunny, dry mornings and some unexpected bonuses:

Cooler temperatures: in a lot of Asia, the rain drops the mercury and provides some sweet relief from the heat. You may get wet, but you won’t melt.

Fewer tourists: you don’t often get a chance to feel alone in Asia. If getting a bit of space is what you’re after, the rainy season is your best bet.

Lower prices: more splashing of the water, less splashing of the cash. Fewer travellers and lighter demand on accommodation and services means lower prices.

Greener greenery: every cliché you’ve ever heard about the lush greens of the tropics is true. You really haven’t seen green till you’ve seen green in the tropical wet season.

Easier storm-chasing: There’s actually no chasing to be done. Just hunker down somewhere dry with a view (bars are good for this) and watch nature work her magic. Watching tropical storms roll in is pretty spectacular.

Better photos: lightning, dramatic colour changes, dark storm clouds - these are the ingredients of photos way cooler than the blue-skies-and-fluffy-white-clouds kind.

Great excuses: there’s nothing like a bit of torrential rain for an excuse to just do nothing. Lie in bed and listen to the rain. Sit under a deck and watch it. Read. Play cards. Be on holiday. Don’t feel guilty about not exploring that cave or climbing that mountain.

Funnier sights: sit back and watch those who don’t let the rain ruin their parade – plastic-poncho-clad school kids balancing umbrellas on bicycles; hundreds of brollie-wielding pedestrians passing one another in the street without causing injury (more photo opps).

More excuses: if you get caught out, and get stuck at a shelter or a bar (oops) while the storm hits, chances are you won’t be alone, and if ever there were a legitimate time to engage in a conversation with a stranger (maybe start with the weather)…

Try out a trip in the wet season. You’ll be in for a treat. So, where will you watch the rain from?

By Louise Clarke - Lonely Planet Author"

Posted by Liz - Holiday Indochina

Tags: travel information, Vietnam weather, travel tips, best photos holiday, Vietnam holiday in wet season, Indochina holiday in wet season, Indochina holiday guide