For the seventh stop on our fourth around-the-world adventure, we headed to Vietnam. It was our third attempt to visit the country, and we were hoping it would finally be the charm!

Our initial attempt was during our first yearlong circumnavigation, and we had to apply for the visa while we were already out of the United States. Vietnam’s e-visa website wasn’t the best in 2018, and our applications were denied. Since we were unable to visit a Vietnamese embassy at the time, we had to remove that stop from the itinerary.

The second attempt was during our Japanese cruise in 2023, when the ship’s captain had to forgo that port of call because of a tsunami in the region.

We were determined to make it to Vietnam this time, and we did!

To celebrate, Michael booked a romantic three-day cruise for us in Hạ Long Bay, the world-famous UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hạ Long means “descending dragon” in Vietnamese, and it makes perfect sense when you’re floating among the thousands of tree-covered karsts that give the bay its distinctive appearance.

Mon Cheri Cruises picked us up from our hotel in Hanoi and drove us to the Hạ Long Bay harbor, where we were entertained by traditional musicians and given plenty of time to shop for souvenirs and sundries.

Larger ships like Mon Cheri’s cannot enter the small port, so we were ferried to our overnight vessel that was anchored a few minutes away.

For such a short sailing, the ship was quite luxurious and reminiscent of river cruise vessels in Europe and on the Nile in Egypt. We had a large stateroom with a private balcony where we could enjoy the peaceful scenery passing by.

In addition to taking in the beautiful surroundings, we were given several opportunities to swim in the bay, kayak among the karsts, or enjoy cocktails poolside aboard the ship. There were also nightly cooking classes and sunrise tai chi sessions each morning.

One of our excursions was to Cát Bà Island, where we bicycled among the nature park to a traditional village to learn about their handicrafts and sample homemade fermented tea and fruit liquors.

We also toured the Trung Trang cave, the largest cave in Vietnam and the third-largest limestone cave system in the world. While it’s impressive, it’s hard to hold a candle to Mammoth Cave or Carlsbad Caverns in the United States.

Back on the water, we kayaked to an islet with a small shrine on its beach among the shellfish and fossilized shells.

UNESCO inscribed the bay as a biological reserve and world heritage site in 1994. “As the most extensive and best known example of marine-invaded tower karst, Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba Archipelago is one of the world’s most important areas of fengcong (clusters of conical peaks) and fenglin (isolated tower features) karst.”

I’m still not entirely sure that I understand the geological specifications, but I do know it’s beautiful and quite different from anything you’ll encounter anywhere else in the world.

You can see more from our time in Vietnam, including a video of our Ha Long Bay experience, by following We Married Adventure on Instagram and Facebook.