Ha Long Bay was one of the few places in Vietnam where I had some sense of what it might be like to be there. Glossy images of bright green karsts jutting out of crystal blue waters danced in my head like National Geographic spreads as we planned how to travel from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. The most common way for tourists to view Ha Long Bay is by purchasing a ticket on a boat that they will spend several days and nights aboard seeing the sights. Brian and I have learned from this trip that we much prefer sightseeing and travelling on our own without being at the mercy of a tour guide whenever possible. Unfortunately, it is a bit trickier to do it this way when traveling to Ha Long Bay as it is obviously the road less traveled. We had extra motivation to try the trickier route after hearing horror stories from other travelers (mostly through the grapevine and not their own actual experiences) of people forking over fairly substantial amounts of money, at least relatively speaking, only to arrive in Ha Long Bay to be informed that their tickets were not real or that the boat they thought they had booked a ticket on “burned down” and they would have to travel on a crappier boat instead (a surprisingly common claim it seems when the ole bait and switch tactic is used in Ha Long Bay, as we heard about this excuse being made to more than one person).

The self-travel route to Ha Long Bay involved two bus rides and a ferry ride to Cat Ba Island, which is the only island in Ha Long Bay with overnight accommodations. From there, day trips can be arranged to tour the bay at a substantially cheaper price than the overnight boats. Our friends Matt and Louise who we had been travelling with since Nong Khiaw, Laos, also wanted to travel the same way, so it seemed like the perfect plan. But alas, life and mother nature often have other ideas.

When we got to Cat Ba Island we found that it was rainy, overcast and totally and utterly frigid. After being teased in Hanoi with the 80 degree weather, thinking that FINALLY the cold temperatures we had been enduring for several weeks in the northern part of Southeast Asia was subsiding, we were once again plunged into the 40s and 50s. Not only that, but the tour we had arranged for our day trip through the bay was not exactly what we expected. The boat was quite run down and the guide barely spoke any English, proving to us once again that no matter how hard you may work to avoid getting swindled in Southeast Asia you have no choice but to accept that it is going to happen from time to time. At least the karsts were beautiful and we bonded with our fellow passengers over the frigid weather and general feelings of disappointment.

We headed back to our $6/night hotel room following our boat ride through Ha Long Bay, thoroughly frozen, and after confirming that the weather was not going to be any better the next day, decided to hightail it to central Vietnam where it looked to be at least 20 degrees warmer. I’m a bit sad that the weather didn’t entice us to stay longer, but had no regrets whatsoever about leaving the surprisingly cold north for warmer pastures down south.