Mystical Hạ Long Bay Highlights Vietnam Coastal Cruising

Days 82-85, 2026 Grand World Voyage

Friday to Monday, March 27-30, 2026; Phu My, Da Nang and Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam.

While not as well-known as Angkor Wat, Hạ Long Bay in Northeastern Vietnam has been on my bucket list for years. Through travel-brochure photographs, I’ve long admired the otherworldly look of hundreds of limestone karst towers jutting out of quiet bays, with the occasional traditional junk sailing by.

Instead of opting for a long day’s tour into Hanoi, I jumped at the chance to spend the day Monday sailing among the islands of Hạ Long Bay. I’ll see Hanoi another time.

As we wove our way in through hundreds of small islands, the sun peeked out from behind a cloud. We passed not just local fishing boats, but also anchored cargo ships.

With about a quarter of a million people, Hạ Long features modern high-rise apartments and commercial buildings, lots of commercial docks, an observation wheel and a gondola stretching across the bay.

Hundreds of tourist boats for hire share the new cruise pier, and electric open-air vans run back and forth along its length. A 20-minute shuttle bus ride carried passengers to a multi-story modern shopping mall.

I had no interest in shopping, as I wanted to soak up the beauty of the islands. Many other tourists shared my interest, and our tour boat was one of dozens headed for the Sung Sot Cave, the most famous of many in the bay. The boats just pull up to the wide stone staircase, dropped off tourists and retreat to one of several moorings.

Had I known our cave visit would include lots of steps, perhaps without handrails, I would have brought my walking stick. I decided to skip the cave visit and stay on board to sketch.

Next ,we boarded rowboats and enjoyed exploring a small lagoon entered through a rock archway. We sat back as a guide rowed our boat, but some chose to paddle themselves in kayaks.

Monkeys came down to see if we had any food; passengers on other boats offered bananas. Sadly, some tossed what looked like Asian versions of Moon Pies, still in wrappers, which the monkeys quickly opened to eat the sweet treat. The wrappers just floated away.

A few days ago, the Volendam docked in Phuoc An, a change from the previously used Phu My port about an hour or so from Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as most residents still call it). Our Angkor Wat three-day tour actually ended with a short flight to Saigon from Siem Reap, Cambodia. We jumped on a bus to HoaTúc, a local restaurant for a wonderful lunch.

For some reason I wasn’t surprised when, during our short tour of the city, I saw the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon covered in scaffolding. It’s been that way since I first saw it in 2017. We stopped to photograph the rooftop where crowds rushed one of the last helicopters to leave the city at the end of the war. Now the rooftop is surrounded by modern buildings, as is much of the city. I love Saigon and in the past have taken a transfer from the ship to explore on my own for the day.

One of my favorite stops is the Rex Hotel, where during the Vietnam War the U.S. military held daily press briefings with war correspondents. I was thrilled that our tour stopped there for about 20 minutes, mainly for the use of toilets. Elaine, Andy and I skipped the facilities and headed for the roof-top garden bar, where we quickly ordered and consumed ginger mojitos.

On Sunday our port call at Da Nang was short, as the ship would leave in the early afternoon to make it to Hạ Long the next day. On my previous visit, we had time for an all-day excursion to the ancient imperial city of Hue. Today, the shuttle bus from the commercial port took us to the far banks of the Han River. Dozens of pedicab drivers competed for my business, but I was just interested in sketching the bridge we had just crossed – the Dragon Bridge.

I hear it is spectacular on weekend nights when it breathes fire and water. Maybe next time. I was initially disappointed that we weren’t dropped at the “head” end of the dragon, but settled for sketching from the “tail.” The only possible name for my painting was “Tail of the Dragon,” a reference not just to the sketch but to a previous blog about a stretch of road in North Carolina popular among car and motorcycle clubs for its twisty turns.

While we were in Cambodia, Capt. Frank and his wife Alexandria came aboard as he took over from Capt. Rens. This is the fourth time I’ve sailed with Capt. Frank on a portion of a world cruise, and it is fun see them again. Repeat world cruiser and good friend Monika arranged a private birthday dinner in the King’s Room for her husband Tom on Saturday. Frank and Alexandria surprised us all with a visit.