We took a bus from Hanoi to Halong City where we planned to organize a boat trip to Cat Ba (the only populated island) and a tour around Halong Bay. Most travelers to Halong Bay organize a tour package from Hanoi for 2-3 days (hotels, transportation and activities are all planned). We try to avoid tours for the most part, preferring to travel on our own schedule and avoiding large tourist groups. In hindsight, it would have probably been in our best interest to book a package for this specific journey.
We started by purchasing a 
one-way ticket to Cat Ba which included a tour of Halong Bay, with over 3000 limestone karsts rising from the Gulf of Tonkin and innumerable caves throughout. It was a beautiful tour of the bay, small floating villages and schools within the maze of islands. We stopped to tour of one of the caves which had a beautiful ray of light beaming through. The boat was comfortable with a dining area and a top deck with lounge chairs and we met quite a few other travelers from around the world who also avoided the tour package.
The problem was the boat dropped us off on the
far end of the island (about 45 minutes away from the main town, over mountains and winding roads). We quickly realized that there were buses for the tour groups but no transportation for those who were on their own. We were in an uninhabited part of the island and at the mercy of those who provided transportation services. In all, there were 12 of us who didn’t have transportation and we went back and forth with the drivers/touts at the pier over costs. They wanted to charge $10 per person for what should have been a $3 ride, everyone refused based simply on principle.
We spent hours at the pier, trying to contact hotels for
transportation, talking to the other boat drivers and haggling at the pier. They knew we were at their mercy and it was just a matter of time before we gave in. All of the buses left, the sun was setting and we were on a pier surrounded by motorbikes. Two Australian guys absolutely refused to pay the amount they were demanding so they started the 30 km hike to the other side of the island. The rest of us eventually gave in and hopped on motorbikes ($6 to the other end of the island). It scared the hell out of us to have to ride a motorbike for such a long journey with large backpacks. The ride was long but beautiful, mountains and valleys with small villages in between.
We found a hotel quickly and for only $8 had a room with a beautiful view of the bay. I would like to say that we had a nice stay but we just didn’t enjoy the area so much. The people weren’t very friendly and it just wasn’t as beautiful as we thought it would be. The nicest person we met was a young deaf girl who only spoke Vietnamese. You’d be surprised how well you can communicate by drawing pictures and gesturing with hands. 
We tried to make the best of our time there, trying out the different restaurants and meeting other travelers but after a couple of days we were ready to leave. Overall, Halong Bay is beautiful but completely overdeveloped and overrated. It was nice to get back to Hanoi and we spent another 4 nights there before booking our train tickets to Sapa, in the far northwest of Vietnam on the border with China.
We started by purchasing a 
one-way ticket to Cat Ba which included a tour of Halong Bay, with over 3000 limestone karsts rising from the Gulf of Tonkin and innumerable caves throughout. It was a beautiful tour of the bay, small floating villages and schools within the maze of islands. We stopped to tour of one of the caves which had a beautiful ray of light beaming through. The boat was comfortable with a dining area and a top deck with lounge chairs and we met quite a few other travelers from around the world who also avoided the tour package.
The problem was the boat dropped us off on the
far end of the island (about 45 minutes away from the main town, over mountains and winding roads). We quickly realized that there were buses for the tour groups but no transportation for those who were on their own. We were in an uninhabited part of the island and at the mercy of those who provided transportation services. In all, there were 12 of us who didn’t have transportation and we went back and forth with the drivers/touts at the pier over costs. They wanted to charge $10 per person for what should have been a $3 ride, everyone refused based simply on principle. We spent hours at the pier, trying to contact hotels for
transportation, talking to the other boat drivers and haggling at the pier. They knew we were at their mercy and it was just a matter of time before we gave in. All of the buses left, the sun was setting and we were on a pier surrounded by motorbikes. Two Australian guys absolutely refused to pay the amount they were demanding so they started the 30 km hike to the other side of the island. The rest of us eventually gave in and hopped on motorbikes ($6 to the other end of the island). It scared the hell out of us to have to ride a motorbike for such a long journey with large backpacks. The ride was long but beautiful, mountains and valleys with small villages in between. 
We found a hotel quickly and for only $8 had a room with a beautiful view of the bay. I would like to say that we had a nice stay but we just didn’t enjoy the area so much. The people weren’t very friendly and it just wasn’t as beautiful as we thought it would be. The nicest person we met was a young deaf girl who only spoke Vietnamese. You’d be surprised how well you can communicate by drawing pictures and gesturing with hands. 
We tried to make the best of our time there, trying out the different restaurants and meeting other travelers but after a couple of days we were ready to leave. Overall, Halong Bay is beautiful but completely overdeveloped and overrated. It was nice to get back to Hanoi and we spent another 4 nights there before booking our train tickets to Sapa, in the far northwest of Vietnam on the border with China. 
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