Days 5-6: Ha Long Bay - this is more like it!

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Arriving into Ha Long Bay in our private car, 3 hours drive from Hanoi, was awesome! The Bay is filled with islands and a World Heritage Park, already it was a bit warmer too.

Even driving through the town, it was a bit quieter and more laid back.

We went on a 1 night boat cruise on the Emeraude and it was fantastic, its a small ship built after the French paddle steamers and it was all polished wood and brass and the cabins so cute! We embarked at about 12noon and spent the afternoon sailing out to "Surprise Cave" (I can't remember it's Vietnamese translated name!) We went in by tender and there were dozens and dozens of old Vietnamese wooden junks with loads of people doing trips out to Halong Bay. You walked up a steep cliff to the most breathtaking view of the bay and through this tiny hole in the cliff into 3 caves which got larger and larger and were absolutely huge! There were lots of carvings from centuries ago lit up by lights and all very cool! We walked through the caves to emerge at the other side of the bay and taken back out to the Emeraude. The whole time on board was spectacular, and we took dozens of photos including some memorable ones of Sheepy.... again which we no longer have ;-(

After getting off the boat, we realised we had 12 hours until our train left Hanoi for Hue so we delayed our private car and hung out in Halong Bay a bit. There is hotels being built everywhere and we knew if we came back in just a couple of years it would be completely different and suddenly a tourist mecca! Already it is starting to look very cool with promenades along the beach.

Heading back to Hanoi we stopped in at a restaurant with views over Hoan Kiem and then took a rickshaw drive through the city. Seriously, this guy looked about 80 years old and he peddled the two of us around in this tiny little cart on his pushbike for an hour........ for $3. It's a cool way to get about though, we were being driven about the pace of walking so it was all the joy of seeing Hanoi at walking pace, without the effort ;-)

Then we headed to the train station, which is where some B**stard stole our camera bag including our 2 digital cameras, video camera and my wallet! Ugh! It was really upsetting to not only lose all this stuff but losing all our wicked photos which we were so proud of! Luckily, I texted Dad from the 12 hour train ride to cancel credit card and so forth but am still working on replacing the rest of it. We also had to spend hours at a police station in Hue the next day and then do the insurance company thing..... argh! such a disappointment at the beginning of our trip though I guess we have to be grateful it was now not several months in or anything!

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