Hanoi - Beautiful Paloma [Part 3]

13 February 2012 @ Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Second day in Hanoi, we woke up super duper early to pack our bags and check out of the hotel.

While waiting for a mini bus to pick us up, we leisurely enjoy our breakfast. The breakfast served was way above my expectations. Bravo Charming 2 Hotel!

At around 7.30am, Jerry, our tour guide came on the mini bus to pick up the both of us, then a few more others along the way and off we go to Ha Long Bay!

4 hours on the road from Hanoi to Ha Long. Our butts were all flatten already after the long ride.

But the interesting part was that we get to meet people from all over the world. There's an old couple from London, father & son from Aussie and another young couple from Penang.

As we confirmed our online bookings with Paloma Cruise, we were led to the pier to board the transfer boat.

The transfer boat took us to further into the sea and WUALAH! Our gorgeous Paloma is waiting for us eagerly.

We were given hot towels while we sat at the restaurant waiting to get our room keys.

Jerry came up very soon and introduce the captain, the cook, the masseur and the crews of Paloma.

Then, we're assigned to our rooms. Everybody gets a free upgrade, again!

We rushed to our room as we can't wait to see how it looks like. But it took us some time to figure out Room No. 8 is labelled as Charity Room on the door...

It's just a small room but it's very well-designed. 

A hammer was also provided to break the window in case the passengers are trapped in the room when the ship sinks. 

I'm indeed impressed with the arrangement of the room and washroom. They even have a separate cubicle for the hot shower. Lovely.

And when you open up the window curtains, you'll see the beautiful sea with all the limestone islands.

The rooms are located on the 1st and 2nd level.

Restaurant & bar is on the 3rd floor.

And on the 4th level is the deck. If it's summer time, people normally sunbath here. But it was winter then...

They have plenty of tables, chairs and beach chairs for passengers to hang out and enjoy the scenery while the ship is moving.

When we were there, the weather was so cold and misty that we could hardly see anything beyond 200 metres.

Well, those mist gave my photos a touch of mystery though.

Throughout the entire journey in the sea, there was only ONE other cruise tailing behind us. Yup, one only.

It's a good thing because we get our privacy and we'll be able to enjoy the scenery without distractions. Many other cruises that takes the common route will have hundreds of other ships sailing together.

Michael from Australia trying to "shoot" the other ship with the dustbin. Quite a fun and young-at-heart guy whom we get to know on the cruise.

Lunch was served on the boat and we went to a village somewhere in the middle of the sea after that. More photos on that in my coming post! Billy, out.

Next post: Hanoi - Pearl Farm and Fishing Village [Part 4]