October 4, 2025
Today we definitely set our record for most boat rides in a day. Written down it looks especially insane:
Cruise boat → transfer boat → day boat → transfer boat → Cát Bà Island → transfer boat → day boat → kayaking → day boat → transfer boat → cruise boat → transfer boat → Ha Long Bay port
The day started with our family as the last group to make it to breakfast after a slow start. We ate quickly to make sure we weren’t late to catch the excursion boat (the first of many). What we learned, though, was that it was not an excursion boat but a transfer boat to take us to our “day boat” where we would hang out for most of the day. Seemingly the cruise boat we slept on went on a mini jaunt yesterday but was now anchored again at where we boarded yesterday. Our best guess is that the fuel to move the bigger boats is too costly so they have medium sized day boats do more of the heavy lifting.
We learned that we’d have a few hours on the day boat in the morning before we would get on a smaller transfer boat to take us to Cát Bà Island, our planned excursion for the day. Thankfully the boat had a ton of board games to keep us all occupied and air conditioning in the dining cabin. We started with Uno but soon split into groups with Ollie playing chess with Kyle and me and Len playing a Vietnamese board game where I fully made up the rules. The made up rules were to simply roll the dice and move your horses around the board and Len absolutely loved this.
Soon we boarded another transfer boat to take us to Cát Bà Island where we would visit a local fishing village. We were given the option of riding one speed bikes up and down rolling hills or riding in electric golf carts. Since Ollie is still getting the hang of riding on his own and the idea of riding a one speed bike with either kid on the back in a “kiddie seat” didn’t sound possible or enjoyable, we opted for the carts. The cart ride ended up being unenjoyable as well as the driver stayed behind the pack of bike riders and there were long stretches of baking in the sun at a complete standstill in the cart.
When we arrived at Viet Hai village, our guide from the day boat told our group a bit abotut what life was like there for the villagers. There were only a few small fans blowing hot air around and I struggled to focus so unfortunatley I don’t recall much. I do remember him sharing the old saying about what Vietnamese would eat;
“Vietnamese people eat everything that flies except airplanes, everything that swims except boats, and everything that walks except cars.”
He also shared that most villagers no longer eat dog but some still believe that eating dog will improve their luck so it does still happen. We were offered to try snake or gecko wine and to also take a barefoot walk in the stream where the fish would give us a “pedicure” but we all declined these offers. We then made our way through the village to see traditional mud houses where one had a cat with a bunch of kittens inside. We also met a white fluffy dog and were told his name was “Lunch”.
We took the transfer boat back to the day boat where we ate lunch before heading out on a super brief kayak excursion. Len and I teamed up and when he spotted the beach he soon saw a few huge bamboo pieces ashore and his excitement for the excursion tripled on the spot. We didn’t pack swimsuits but stripped the boys down to their undies and they jumped right in. Len eventually ran to the beach to retrieve his bamboo stick to bring into the water. He and Ollie took turns riding and throwing the stick around gleefully in the water. The boat sounded its horn to let us know it was time to head back and the boys were devastated, “We love this island!!! Why do we have to leave? Mama do you think we can come back?”
Back on the day boat, while Len was grabbing a Jenga box from the game table, he was invited to play a building game with another little boy. Eventually our family joined theirs and we had a lovely afternoon together. We learned that they were from Tasmania (our second Tasmanian family in Ha Long Bay!) and that their kids were on an extended school holiday. They had two kids- Tom, 6 and Ellie, 9. Ollie and Tom soon broke off from our group to go play chess by themselves. Len tried to insert himself into their game but we kept luring him back to the bigger group to let the boys play chess in peace. Our bigger group attempted to play Uno No Mercy but since the instructions were in Vietnamese and our phones had no service so we couldn’t translate any text, we made up the rules the best we could. We never actually finished the game, though, and some of us ended up with more than 30 cards each.
While sitting with the family from Tasmania, we all received alerts that our cruises would be cut short by a night due to an incoming typhoon. Details were scarce, but we expected to be brought back to the cruise boats to quickly pack up and head back to Ha Long Bay port. We then heard from Jenny (the woman who planned most of our Southeast Asia itinerary) that we had the choice of driving back to Hanoi or spending the night in Ha Long Bay and driving back to the city tomorrow. Since we’d get to the port close to 6pm and it’d. be a 2 hour drive to Hanoi, we opted to stay at a nearby hotel for the night.
We said goodbye to our new friends and were transferred back to the cruise boat to quickly pack again to make the transfer boat back to the port. There were new people on the boat who we assume took the spot of the 1-night cruisers. Kyle and I noted how brutal it must have been for them to get out to the cruise boat by midday only to have to pack up and leave again at 5pm.
Driving through Ha Long Bay to our hotel, Kyle and I both agreed that this city’s downtown reminded us of Atlantic City– high rises, some abandoned, scattered people on the streets and everything feels dated by a few decades.
The typhoon evacuation was of course unavoidable but otherwise today wasn’t a favorite day of mine of Kyle’s. The stifling heat, all the sitting around and inability to control anything were not the makings of a fun day for us. (Besides meeting the lovely family from Tasmania, of course, which was a highlight.) However, the boys LOVED the day. The exciting boat evacuation, Len’s bamboo stick at the beach, Ollie’s new chess friend, seeing the mama cat feed her kittens were all highlights they spoke of cheerfully as we checked into our hotel tonight. Len even said, “Aw I loved that boat! I’m sad we had to leave it.”
