we want to visit halong bay, stay on a boat for one or two nites...does anyone have a recommendation for a reputable company.??
a junk would be preferable but open for suggestions.
also, does anyone recommend a tour guide/driver
for Hanoi???
thanks in advance

for tour to Halong: Handspan (very popular, you'd better book it asap)
Hotel: De Syloia
Restaurant: 1.Cha Ca La Vong (very Vietnamese), fish cooked at your table.
2. Quan Dinh Lang: VN food and music & performance.

email me if you have further questions
[email protected]

i used asian trails and was very happy with them...

Used Handspan also for the overnight trip to Halong Bay. Also stayed at De Syloia. Nice small restuarant in De Syloia. Indochine restaurant-one that has been around for a long time.

did anyone stay on a junk?? which one??
did you stay 1 or 2 nites?? did ;you see other boats that looked better??
what was the cost?? can we book when we arrive in hanoi or are advance reservations necessary??/
has anyone a driver/guide they recommend??
so many questions but we are leaving in less than 2 months..
thanks

In '96 went to Halong Bay. First, in Hanoi went to the Language Institute. Talked to some teachers and got a student who was learning English to come along in trade for practicing on us. We paid all his expenses.Went via local transportation which included motorcycle, train, russian jeep, and of course the ferry. On the ferry there was a local who was just sitting by himself among a few tourists looking very out of place. I persuaded our student guide to talk to him. Turns up he was quite the entreprenure. He had his own junk to take tourists out, but no way of communicating. So, we negotiated on board the ferry. The norm at the time was to find a junk at Halong and leave the next day. We arrived in Halong. Took motorcycles to his junk and inspected it. Then to the market for supplies including one live chicken. Then off to the boat for our 1st nite in the bay. Its an adventure, but well worth the experience. Fisherman came up during the day with live fish, prawns and mossels for sale. The 'captain'/cook turned out to be an ex-VC truck driver and just bokkers for the delicacy chicken feet.
Some wonderful sites and worth at least 2-3 full days sailing around.

Robbie

robbie...what an adventure!!!
i like the idea of hiring a student for a local guide...
we are corresponding with buffalo tours...
any feedback??? the jewel of the bay is the junk they use...looks good for 3 day 2 nite
$180 per person....
we saw cheaper but i am not a backpacker
kinda gal...but dont want 5* either

Back then nobody was doing the kind of tour you are looking at. It was kind of near the beginning of locals adjusting to the influx of backpackers looking for ways to visit Halong Bay. $180 would have seemed like a fortune to the junk owners. I can't remember what we paid, but venture to say it was no more than $20/day(total for 3 people) for everything but the food and drink.

You are looking at a bit higher standard. But then you miss out on the adventure when everything is done for you. It really was fun. The negative to what you might appreciate was the sleeping arrangement. Mats on the deck.
But places I travelled to in Northern Vietnam('95-checked my passport), this was common.

We rented a 4x4 and travelled also to the West near the Laos border and North close to the China border. Not a tourist in sight for over 2 weeks except in Sapa. Many stories there.

dive---that looks quite expensive to me...i think we paid about the same for one nite's hotel at 3 star in hy phong and for driver and guide for 3 days and for private boat with captain and crew plus lunch for an entire day...pick up in hanoi and return to hanoi....lots of driving and guiding...

Emeraude it is deluxe junk, but "deluxe" cost as well.
Last November I spend one night in Huong Hai Junk ( 2day1night) cost around 120 USD, service for backpacker join i big group,I enjoyed open tour in Hanoi, good service but low price. you can find from google: vietnamopentourism
I like spending time on the junk, we not only savor a unique feeling in a world of wonder but also enjoy and joy into various of interesting activities as: going fishing on the bay at night, kayaking, watching sunrise and sunset.....

there are 3 choice: one is : Emeraude price about 230 USD/sigle room; one is using Huong Hai Junk : 120 USD & one is local boat: 27 USD; up to you to choose.( I found in vietnamopentourism.com)

bob...you were on a private boat?? what size, how did you arrange for the driver and boat??
usman...was the junk comfortable and worth the money??
i think watching the junks sail by at halong bay will be memories and photo ops unrivaled....
thanks michelle...i am in contact with handspan and they say it is not too busy in october...maybe i will wait till i arrive to book.
cha ca la will be on my must dine list
thanks everyone

It was just the normal size(for a family)junk. Plenty of room and comfortable. From the postings I gather that this little tourist junk rental industry was in its infancy when I did it. So, what I would recommend if you are interested is to take a look at what the backpackers are doing in that other guidebook(LP)-recent publication. I am sure that the setup is more sophisticated now.

The way to organize a local junk at the time was to pitch up the 1st day in HaLong and start looking around at boats after you get a room for the nite. The junk owners come to you when you arrive and try to get you to go with them once you get off the ferry. I was fortunate to arrange everything right on the ferry with my student interpretor and the owner and get going that afternoon.

If you go with a local, be sure to research well the places you might want to go to and understand you are sailing, so going any 'long' distances is not an option unless you have a few more days. This way, before you leave you have a rough itinarary to follow agreed upon.

Backpacker always choose 27 USD for sleeping on boat but it seems not safe when the weather is bad, my sugestion is you shold choose Huong hai Junk to book. Need any help mail me. Emeraude can not campare because it is the most luxery boat in Vietnam.

i arranged it all through asian trails...they have a bkk office but i did it on line...they had a standard tour but we customized it and used them for about 80% of our time in VN....it was very cheap and perfect for what we wanted...recently when i booked something through huahin i saw that the tickets were issued through asian trails, so i assume they are very large...it may all be part of the same "sawdakee" (sp) group...

i wanted to stay in the hotel in hy phong which is owned by the royal garden group in bkk (my marriott)...this is about 10 minutes from the "hydrofoil" to halong bay...it was old and my not run any more---russian built...

the boat was huge...it was a tour boat...no rooms with captain's area at rear and small kitchen area there too...delicious food...the boat had seats for maybe 20 ...it was very comfortable...we found the bay to be sort of boring....once you see some of those rocks sticking up from the water, then most of them look the same...