Halong Bay 12-14th May

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Just a quick one today, as the pictures more or less speak for themselves, and to be honest we didn't do much apart from lie on the boat or lie on the beach on Monkey Island!
We spent two nights and about three and half days in Halong bay, drifting slowly on the boat during the day and even slower at night. We also visited Cat Ba island, the largest, and only inhabited island in the Bay, where we cycled through the national park. We also visited the "Hospital Cave", which is more or less what it sounds. In the early 60s the cave was transformed into a hospital for serving members of the Vietnamese Army, complete with medics rooms, kitchens, a rest and recuperation room, a conference room and a poool. It is quite an eerie experience to be honest, but definitely worthwhile.
After that we got on another boat to transfer to Monkey Island. This is a tiny island in the bay, complete with private beach and about 25 beach huts. Unfortunately we were only there for one night, as it was the first beach of the trip and also a very idyllic place to spend a night or three, but we did have time to hike to the peak of the island and see the monkeys that give the island its name.

That is more of less it for halong bay, the photos are better than any of my descriptions!
Right, we are almost up to date (thankfully!) only two more quick blogs to go before we are in "real time"....

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