Halong Bay trip

---

From Hanoi we headed to Halong Bay for an over night stay on a traditional Chinese boat, called a junk boat. The hotel organised the trip for us, although I had requested for us to stay on the Lagoon Explorer 2, which I had heard many good reviews about.
On the way to the bay we stopped off at a commercial centre which sold traditional goods, silk, garden furniture, jewellery, and other bits. The Vietnamese coffee on sale was one of the best we tasted throughout our trip. After an impulse but it was time to get back in the van to continue our journey to the bay.
Soaking up the scenery and crazy items on mopeds speeding by made the second half of the journey fly by… we soon arrived at the port.
We jumped onto our boat and introduced ourselves to the 6 other guests, the captain kicked off our journey was the most beautiful seafood lunch. Huge prawns, crab and squid… it was all delicious. Our fellow guests were a mix of English and American tourists all very nice and wanted to absorb as much of the scenery and experience as we did. Our cabins were really great, comfy beds and ensuite bathroom. We sailed by hundreds of little islets, with floating villages nestled between them. We stopped off at a larger island which had huge caves big enough to be explored, it was turned into a tourist stop off point.
After more delicious meals and views of the beautiful islands we eventually headed back to the port… As we were getting closer the sounds of the familiar honking horns came back to remind us of Vietnam’s busy streets.

---