kayak – Here and There

A popular excursion from Hanoi is a trip to Halong Bay. While doing an overnight cruise isn’t a must-do, I would highly recommend it. It offers you the chance to take in the natural wonder leisurely, and there’s nothing like a quiet boat ride to de-stress you.

Before I get into the review of Halong Bay, I should begin by telling you that the weather was not nice. And apparently, that’s not uncommon. While I still enjoyed the time we spent out there, it would have been immeasurably nicer if the weather wasn’t cloudy the entire time. So keep that in mind.

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The boat we chose for our cruise was Dragon Legend with the Indochina Junk company. This was not the cheapest option ($200), but quite honestly none of us wanted to go cheap on this since we’d be staying on the boat overnight. So I can tel you, the price is worth it. The staff was very friendly, and very organized. The boat was extraordinarily nice, the food was included and quite good, and the alcohol was reasonably priced (remember that reasonable in Vietnam still means dirt cheap). It wasn’t overly crowded (there were about 30 passengers) and the rooms were super clean/comfortable. The boat had a very nice sundeck, pool, and hot tub as well.

As far as the activities go, the cruise staff organized a 1-hour tour of the bay (we were actually in Bai Tu Long Bay which is the less touristy section of Halong Bay) via either kayak or ferry boat. They offered primarily two-person kayaks, however there were a couple of single person kayaks that you can specifically ask to use. Again, because of the cloudy weather, the kayaking wasn’t really all that great, but it was strikingly calm out on the water and very serene.

There’s also a cave walk that the staff will take you into, which again was pretty cool if you’ve never done before. If you have, it won’t be anything that you haven’t already seen to be honest.

Surprisingly, my favorite activity was the morning Tai Chi class on the sundeck. It’s hard to put into words how calming and mentally refreshing it felt to be doing those exercises in the cool, crisp, clean morning air.

Ultimately, I would recommend this boat and company, good weather or bad. If you get good weather, the $200 is really worth it at that point. But I’m confident it’ll be a nice excursion nevertheless.

For booking click here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/8123738

In early August a group of friends and I decided to take a weekend off and rent a house in Heathsville, Virginia to decompress from our work lives D.C. We found this house on AirBnB and it worked out pretty darn well for us, so I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to get away from the hustle and bustle of the work week.

Located two and half hours from D.C., this house easily held the 9 of us staying there. The host was very generous, attentive, but also left us alone to enjoy our weekend once all the rules were covered (there weren’t very many). It should be noted that the house is the owners actual residence that she rents out, so it’s furnished like a real home and not a summer home. Here are the details of the house.

4 bedrooms (2 queens, 2 doubles), 1 living room with queen pull out couch, 2.5 bathrooms
- great historic architecture; each room is “themed” by different countries the family has lived in. For example, the son’s room was British themed, one of the adult bedrooms was Australia themed, etc.
- It’s a bit of a hike for the two people who get the kids rooms upstairs FYI, and the ceilings are pretty low in those rooms
Fully stocked kitchen with plenty of dishes, silverware, and cooking supplies
A/C in every room except the hallways which was key since it was ridiculously hot out
Grill on the back patio for use
Sun room (which we didn’t use because it was too hot)

In addition to the house itself, the property offered several activities for us to entertain ourselves with. (The videos below were provided by Kristal Ernst Przeklasa)

A beautiful salt water pool with basketball hoop was where we spent most of our time
- There is a Bluetooth speaker attached to the pool house which provided the tunes for the weekend, along with plenty of towels and chairs provided by the host
- One thing to note: At the height of summer, the salt water pool gets pretty warm. Like almost bathwater warm. So if you want to go for a icy, refreshing swim, you’ll need to do that in the morning
A soccer net and huge field to play football/bocce/croquet/etc. surrounds the property
There’s a quick walk to the river (although down a steep and rocky hill, so be mindful of that) with the owner’s kayaks, and cages for crabbing available

In the immediate area there’s one neighbor who isn’t very close, so noise isn’t a factor. The house is also a 10-minute walk to Athena Vineyards, which wasn’t anything to write home about in terms of their wine, but the $5 tasting of ALL their wines (I think it was 8 total) is a steal. They are however turning it into a cidery at some point.

If you need supplies, such as food, sunblock or bug spray (something only I and not necessarily the group needed because all the f**king bugs were attracted to me), there’s a Wal-Mart and Food Lion a 10-minute drive down the road. (Some of the photos were provided by Victoria Zapata and Chad Barrington)