Hanoi and Ha Long Bay 19 April – 23 April 2014

what we woke up to every morning on Ha Long Bay

At first glance Hanoi wasn't very impressive. It was raining and misty and didn’t seem to have the glitz and glamour of HCMC. However, in the end it was quite an interesting city. If you paid attention to the big poster boards it had the inklings of a very “communist comrade” feel to the city. There were billboards that looked like old communist propaganda artwork, but the date on it would be 2014. I found it quite interesting as we were all having so much fun we definitely forgot about Vietnam's history and that it was a communist country.  I guess that was a good thing as we learned a lot in the South, and now we were just enjoying the current Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum reminded us of the past, but it was an extremely impressive piece of architecture.

all of us enjoying Hanoi  =)

at the Mausoleum

We stayed in the Old Quarter which was fun as it was easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the city. Yet, you open a door to a restaurant and are completely transported from the dirty streets to an elegant dinner setting. Hanoi also had lots of traffic with motorbikes like its competitor of the South. Only having 2 days here (in my opinion) was enough as the best parts of Vietnam are out of the cities.

along the Lake in Hanoi

The best part about our time in Northern Vietnam was the trip to Ha Long Bay. The drive to Ha Long Bay was so beautiful. Mist and clouds floated above rice fields and farmers were working in them. It was very picturesque. Then, once you get to the bay to board the boat it became even more beautiful. We literally were sailing through an UNESCO World Heritage site composed of 1600 different islands.

We did a 3 day and 2 night boat trip through the bay. Our time here consisted of kayaking through caverns, jumping off the boat and swimming, hiking through a large cave overlooking the bay, and also climbing to the top of one of the islands to a view point. We also went to a floating water village and a floating pearl farm.

kayaking in the caves !

enjoying the sunset on Ha Long Bay

It was amazing. In the morning you wake up and look out the window to mist hovering over the water and through the islands. In the evening we would sit on the top deck enjoying cocktails and watching the sunset with great friends. I don’t think it could get much better than that.

the last night on the boat.. all of the fun ones enjoying our last happy hour !

Sadly, my time in Vietnam ended with Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. It was sad to say goodbye to our friends. Especially as Joe and his girlfriend live in a different country from Jayda and I, we don’t know when we will see them again. Fortunately, we can’t be too sad as we spent the past 2 weeks travelling through Vietnam with them adding to our already amazing memories.

only THE GIRLS, were brave enough to jump off the top (just saying)... in Ha Long Bay

Vietnam truly is a beautiful place and nothing I write will be able to express how awesome Vietnam is. We felt quite lucky being able to enjoy some of the best sites and food in South East Asia with great friends. Not very many people can say that. Jayda and I are incredibly grateful to have such close friends to travel with. Vietnam was spectacular and I can't wait to see what country I will see my friends in again next !

The Amazing Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei

The Ulu Temburong National Park is a part of the Borneo rain forest and is truly quite incredible. The experiences we've had here are probably one of the best travelling experiences I have had in my life. To get here you need to take a 45 minute boat ride in what the locals call a “floating coffin”, then you get picked up in a van and are driven about 20 minutes down the road to a different part of the river/stream. Here is where you ride in a traditional style boat that is maneuvered by a man who is part of the indigenous tribe of the area. This traditional style boat only seats 6 to 8 depending on the length. The driver literally takes you up stream over rapids (due to it being dry the rapids were only level 1, but still rather impressive!). This trip only took about 30ish minutes or so. Depending on the water conditions, you’re looking at about a 2 hour trip just to reach the national forest and the only resort in or around the national park.

the floating coffin

It is so secluded that while travelling upstream, the sounds of the forest really hit you. The water, the birds, the bugs, the wind, and that’s it. Nothing else. No other boats or people were around to disturb the peace; it was great. When we got to the resort, our guide informed us that we were actually the only people who booked to stay that evening. So, not only were we the only ones at the resort, we were the only people within this national forest (other than about 10 staff members) that were inside the national park, in the middle of the Borneo rain forest, crazy remote! We obviously got upgraded due to the availability, amazing! The resort was so peaceful, you can read my husband’s review here: whenitraveltheworld.com

over rapids on the traditional boat !

After the long journey we stuffed our faces to a delicious meal of foods we had not had before, which was fun. Once it got dark we headed off for our night walk in the jungle. Not going to lie, this was pretty scary. We headed down the river in the middle of the night in the traditional boat. All we had were our flash lights. Then, we get dropped off and were expected to start wading through water towards the rain forest. We were told to watch where we step due to snakes, to say I was creeped out is an understatement!  Well we saw many frogs including the Borneo Horned Toad and our scary list goes like this: scorpions, HUGE spiders, gargantuan ants the size of my thumbs, and of course a snake, swimming the water! I was ready to cut our “sightseeing” short to head back to the resort, but I toughed it out… rather bravely! In my opinion, we actually saw the best animals at the resort. We saw a porcupine chase after a civet cat! Then we also saw the civet cat by our room climbing in the trees. The Civet cat is the cat that eats the coffee beans, then poops them out and its really expensive coffee called kopi luwak. Any who, that was way more exciting and non-scary. We saw an owl and a few bats, which also were not scary after the jungle hike in the safe vicinity of our room.

on our night jungle hike

We then went to bed as we had to get up at 4:30 am to climb to the canopy’s to see the sunrise. This, hands down was the best thing we've done thus far on our trip. I think it is going to be nearly impossible to beat. Once you've watched the sunrise in the Borneo rain forest on top of the trees, I don’t think any other jungle or rain forest experience will ever top that. We were awoken promptly at 4:30 am and were on the traditional boat by 5 am to start out journey. We climbed, in the dark, over 800 steps to get to the canopy. Then we climbed 50 meters up scaffolding to get to the top that overlooked the trees. IT WAS EXHAUSTING, but we did do it as fast as we could to get up there before the sun rose.

getting ready to climb up the scaffolding, in the dark!

looking pretty tired after climbing the scaffolding

We made it to the top before hand and waited. The sound of the forest waking up was so beautiful and peaceful. Different birds waking up and singing their morning songs. The wind bristling in the trees. The sun light slowly rising over the horizon warming the forest. It truly was an amazing experience. Words cannot fully describe how I felt. It was like we were one with nature, truly appreciating mother nature in her full beauty. We were the only ones there, watching the sunrise, waking up the forest. The sound, the smell, the sight of it was just one of a kind. I will always remember it. This is why people go to Brunei, to come experience the sun rising over the Ulu Temburong National Park. We stayed up there taking it in for about an hour or so, we didn't want to leave.

our amazing sunrise

When we finally made our way down, our legs and back were definitely a lot sorer than before! Trekking up as fast as we could probably wasn't the best idea, but well worth it. When we got back we ate some breakfast and relaxed for a bit. Then we decided to go kayaking down those rapids! They looked too fun not to! Being in the canopy was an enlightening experience, but kayaking down the river was just plain fun! We went down a ways then jumped in the water for a swim before going to the “fish spa”. It was a pool filled with little fish that ate your dead skin when you walked in. I hated it, it tickled and felt weird and they were pretty aggressive. It was a laugh, but I didn't last long.

looking down on part of the scaffolding we climbed

slowly making our way down

kayaking!

before taking a dip in front of our room =)

We eventually had to get back to the resort to clean up and pack. We needed to make our 2 hour journey back to BSB. We sat in front of our room just listening to the river and the rain forest, taking it all in before we had to say goodbye. It was a great way to end our day, reflecting on how lucky we were to have been a part of this once in a lifetime experience. 

thanks Ulu Ulu for the AWESOME experience !

enjoying a coconut on our flight leaving Brunei.... goodbye Brunei, it's been great!