{"id":15903,"date":"2023-04-02T09:26:31","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T13:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sunflowerit.ca\/travel\/auto-draft\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T15:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T19:01:09","slug":"farewell-vietnam-hello-burning-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sunflowerit.ca\/travel\/trips-asia\/other-trips\/south-east-asia-2023\/farewell-vietnam-hello-burning-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell Vietnam – Hello Burning Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We wrapped up our Vietnam visit by treating ourselves to a memorable 3 day\/2 night cruise on Halong Bay and its surrounding area. Although our initial itinerary allocated only just two weeks in Vietnam, we were glad we took the opportunity to extend our stay by almost two extra weeks to include places like Pho Quoc island, Mekong delta (Can Tho), Danang and Tam Coc. Our introduction to Vietnam though atrocious with four night stay in Ho Chi Ming City was difficult but thankfully we learned to enjoy more of Vietnam’s offering along the way. Although we had read a lot about the dreadful Burning Season<\/a> in the northern part of South East Asia, we hoped the yearly event would have come to an end by the time we got in the region. It was not the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2023.03.27 – Hanoi – Halong Bay (Vietnam)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had an early breakfast in order to be ready for our Halong Bay cruise hotel pick-up scheduled between 8:00am – 8:30am. We started to be nervous when the clock reached 8:40am and we were still waiting in the hotel lobby. Thankfully a few minutes later, we boarded a bus with a bunch of other guests. Binh introduced himself as our guide for the duration of our cruise. He kept us entertained along the way with tidbits about various topics related to Vietnam (marriage custom, alphabet, practical sentences, etc). The ride from Hanoi to the Halong Bay pier took 3.5hrs. The sky was quite cloudy and the temperature was in the low 20C. Near the end of our road journey, the bus stopped at a pearl processing and selling factory. At the pier, we boarded a small 40-passenger transfer boat for a 40 mins ride to our main cruise ship anchored somewhere in Halong Bay. As we boarded our cruise ship, we were offered a welcome drink and given our room key. Jenny and I, who had never taken a formal cruise before, were ecstatic about our large modern room and its view on the sea. We had our first meal which established a very high standard for our meals. Later, we were invited to participate in the first activity of the cruise: a 2 hr kayak outing. We boarded once again our transport boat which brought us to a floating restaurant where we took place into 2-person kayaks. Paddling the kayaks provided a great means of having a close-up of limestone mounds for which Halong Bay was famous for. Towards the end of our kayak outing, a number of guests slipped out from their kayak and into the water of a lagoon for a refreshing swim. Jenny preferred to stay dry. Back on the cruise ship and after a well deserved shower, we were invited to participate in a brief cooking class which focused on preparing Vietnamese spring rolls. It was a fun and tasty activity as we ate all the spring rolls we made. Later Binh briefed us on tomorrow’s agenda. At that time, we learned that only 8 of 29 guests onboard had enrolled on the 3d\/2n cruise while the others had opted for the 2d\/1n option. In the evening, we had an amazing BBQ buffet for dinner including some delicious clams, oysters and other seafood. Slipping into bed while being almost at eye level with the sea was pretty magical.<\/p>\n\n\n