After Hanoi, cruising the Ha Long Bay was next on our
itinerary.
It is one of the most impressive world heritage sites that we
have ever been to.
The entire area is misty and riddled with limestone ridges
emerging from the water, resembling the back of a dragon that lies dormant in
the bay. This is where the area takes its name from, Ha Long Bay meaning Descending
dragon.
While doing our research about Vietnam, we read so many bad
reviews and stories that we started having second thoughts. There were a lot saying that the Vietnamese people aren’t
that friendly and that you should expect to be scammed at every corner.
Turns out though, the Vietnamese were some of the nicest and most
helpful people we encountered throughout our journey.
I mentioned in a previous post that we planned a 3 months backpacking trip around SE Asia. Our trip started in April and the first stop, the lovely Thailand. We
took a direct flight from Copenhagen to Bangkok via Norwegian airlines.
In
Bangkok we had to pay 1000 baht each to get a 15 days visa (again this is just
for Romanian tourists, other European tourists get a 30 days free visa).
Although
Phuket seems to be the main destination for most tourists, we heard so many bad
things about it that we decided to skip it. Instead we flew from Bangkok to
Krabi and we were very happy with our choice, but if you do like to party then
you’d better stick with Phuket.
Long story short…we always wanted to do a
backpacking trip around the world…well at least a part of it, so what better
place to start than South East Asia?
Why SE Asia? Well...you get the whole package: amazing
places to see, perfect beaches, great food, kind and lovely people, interesting
culture and the big plus, everything is really cheap. Also, SE Asia is very
tourist friendly, so it’s perfect for backpacking beginners.
