A TripAdvisorâ„¢ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Halong Bay, Vietnam by TravelPod blogger Chiapoe titled "Ha Long Bay: How I Love Life on a Boat" Chiapoe's travel blog entry: "I left early the morning of Nov 16 hungover as all hell for my two-day boat tour of Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is northeast of Ha Noi and is a beautiful emerald blue colored bay that is populated by tremendously steep and lush limestone cliffs and caves. I was picked up in a minibus that was full of middle aged couples and business travelers and I was weary that I would be drinking alone for two days. Alas, the clusterf*ck that is Ha Long tours, are minibuses full of people on one-, two- and three-day tours on different boats. Thank goodness. Eventually, after a long drive and wait, I was on the boat and slowly met my fellow boatmates. At lunch when we first arrived, I met Dana and Anne, two Canadian girls who are in sales and in school and are traveling through SE Asia. Dana is from Vancouver, so we shared some tales of my travels through Richmond (shout out to Amir), Vancouver, Squamish (home of a restaurant, cabaret and roach motel run by Uncle Tom) and Whistler Village. After lunch, we stopped at the Surprise Cave, which is a mammoth cave full of stalagtites and stalagmites, reminiscent of Jenolan Caves outside of Sydney, but with a distinct Disneyland effect. There are multi-colored lights everywhere illuminating the cave, tons of tour groups and faux fountains meant to add to the natural ...