halfwhiteboy

La Beaute de Hanoi's deluxe room. So we're already halfway through the first month of the new year. Got any travel plans yet? While I'm already looking forward to summer, wouldn't it be nice to go someplace while the weather's cold? In that regard,  Hanoi  in Vietnam would be great since they have winter there--sans all the discomfort that snow brings. Despite all the perceived chaos brought by swarms of motorbikes, Hanoi is a nice city, especially its Old Quarter area. When we were there last year we stayed at this lovely and inexpensive little hotel called La Beaute de Hanoi . Here's a rundown of our experience.

Continued from: Our Ha Long Bay cruise experience (Part 2 of 3) Thien Canh Son Cave all lit up. Thien Canh Son Beach and Cave We approached an island with a small patch of white sand, one of the very few throughout the bay. This was Thien Canh Son Beach and here we were treated to a barbecue lunch by the beach. It was another great multi-course meal with turnip salad, a host of different grilled stuff, some rice dish wrapped and cooked in tin foil, and fruit.

Continued from: Our Ha Long Bay cruise experience (Part 1 of 3) Endless variations of these limestone rock islets along Ha Long Bay. Bai Tu Long Bay And so it began: the seemingly endless sight of limestone islets jutting out of Ha Long 's placid, emerald green waters. Yes, it was surreal and I couldn't stop myself from snapping photos, like I had this urge to immortalize them in pictures I most likely would rarely look at again. Eventually I grew tired but every now and then there's an outcrop or formation that I found intriguing enough to photograph.

Though of course different, somehow this reminds me of that vantage point going to Kayangan Lake in Coron, Palawan . It was an unplanned trip but in less than a week we found ourselves aboard a Chinese junk-style boat, cruising along Vietnam's famed Ha Long Bay . With 2,000 or so mostly limestone islets spread across more than 1,500 square kilometers, Ha Long is a surreal experience. Yet with such a vast number of islets there is hardly any beach here and the best way to explore the bay is aboard a cruise. The sheer number of cruise options alone can be overwhelming, with each operator offering something different. Your choice depends on what you want. Is it comfort and luxury or are you on a budget? Do you want a bigger boat with more amenities, but which means you'll have to share it with more guests, or do prefer something more intimate with fewer people aboard? Are you in for a lesser known route or are you more comfortable with what's tried and tested, but which...