I hopped on a $40 Jetstar flight way up north to Hanoi (Ha Noi was basically a flood zone due to rain, so I decided to skip this much-loved destination). My friend Mark (aka “Marky Mark”) would meet me up there in a few days.

I didn’t see much of Hanoi. I stayed in the Old Quarter, and as my Uber traveled through the labyrinthine streets to my hotel, Essence Palace Hotel, I thought mostly about my fatigue. The hotel itself was lovely. The staff could not be friendlier. I explained that I wanted to book a Halong Bay cruise and get overnight train tickets to Sapa following my cruise, and it was all taken care of. I didn’t care about paying a premium for anything. I went to my room, turned on HBO, stared at the screen blankly. Then I proceeded to eat every item in the mini-bar. Pringles, Oreos, cashews, two bags of M&Ms, Ritz crackers. The list goes on. I was going on tilt. And then I crashed and slept. It felt so good to not do anything.

The next morning, the bus picked me up at 8am destined for Halong Bay. The number of cruises available is mind-blowing. After much hunting on Agoda, I decided to just go with the mid-range option recommended by my hotel. The tour was run by Swan Cruises and was $140.

The ride to Halong Bay was roughly 4 hours, and then we boarded the boat. We had a nice lunch and cruised over to Bai Tu Long Bay for kayaking and swimming. Then we had “sunset” fruit and snacks (okay, it was actually dark when that started and there was no sunset). There was dinner and fishing. Overall, the people on the boat were nice, and we got to know each other a bit.

The bay itself is stunning with carsts jutting out all over. On a sunny day, it would have been magnificent. The cloud and mist did create an otherworldly effect, just without the blues and greens one would hope for on a nice day.

Overall, it was a good experience, a sort of must-do except for the cookie-cutterness of it all.

Day 2 involved some more meals, cruising around, and a cooking demonstration.

I loved the scenery, but I was ready to leave all the package tour-ness behind me. On to the next adventure! This was a bucket list check-the-box kind of item.