Boating at Hang Luồn @ Halong Bay in Vietnam

Second official stopover at Halong Bay after Titop Island; to this place known as Hang Luồn. Hang actually means cave although the main activity here wasn't cave exploration! 

We docked at this floating jetty and were immediately ushered to the building above. 

First thing; secure a lifejacket from the huge stash. Those particular with hygiene and cleanliness would have to note that some had a smell of laundry that didn't dry properly. 

You can opt for two activities; and both involved the use of water. One, you can opt to take a boat where a person would do the hard work of rowing. p.s. this appealed to the Greatest Kon, Alex and I.

Our dear Lock opted for the laborious task of taking a kayak! I must admit that among the four of us, Lock is the most adventurous and to him, it's the intimate experience that counts. 

I think all the kayakers had to take a safety briefing. For me, I am usually quite keen to undertake such activity but I am more afraid of getting myself wet! And I was feeling lazy that day.

Boat option that we would be taking. It actually cost 100,000 dong a boat but this was covered in our fee for the day tour to Halong Bay. As you can see, each boat can take around 12 persons and I was lucky to be seated in front! 

Let's start! 

Everyone was going into this hole underneath the limestone hill. 

Guess this is where the cave comes about.

Seemed like low tide then.

Hm... would the hole be covered in high tide?

The kayakers trying to navigate in! It's a minimum of two persons per kayak so Lock had to be paired with a stranger. Should he be unlucky, I bet he would spend most of his time going in circles! p.s. his partner was fine.

Stalactites on the cave ceiling. 

Opening up to a lagoon surrounded by the hills! Pretty it sure was but after our day trip to Ninh Binh, where we had a similar activity; this was really nothing to scream about.

Furthermore, it was quite warm and wearing a life jacket didn't help. 

Whole lagoon was also filled with boats and kayaks. 

And plus the noise; it absolutely didn't feel relaxing at all. 

I bet they had been told not to disembark from their kayak in the lagoon.

But what to do, the tourists were either clueless or just didn't care.

Random photos.

After a while, we all had the same expression as the people on the boat above. Boredom had kicked in although it might not be a bad thing as I was almost about to doze off! 

Can't wait to the other light from the end of the cave.

Honestly, this was only a 20-minute boat ride! 

We were like them initially.

Wide-eyed, curious and anticipative! 

On second thought, kayak seemed like a better option.

I should have partnered with Lock! 

Goodbye and hope we wouldn't see each other again!

p.s. not that hopeful if our family plans for a Hanoi trip next year! 

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Pricing for Boat and Kayak.

As above. Do note that we didn't have pay a single cent as the charges already covered in our day tour. p.s. I guess most people will take the tours for ease of logistics.

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam