Hanoi --------------> Ha Long Bay

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Xin chao!!

Hanoi was quite a smack in the face of an introduction to Viet Nam for us, but we loved it! Now, after such an onslaught of motorbikes and city noise Viet Nam stunned us to silence once again with Ha Long Bay's unique calm beauty.

It is a geological sight of wonder! Over thousands of years limestone karst peaks have been forming and moving out into the sea. According to government statistics there are exactly 1969 peaks in the area (coincidentally the same year that their revered former President Ho Chi Minh died). In actual fact there are over 2000 dotted around this bay.

So what did we do when we got here?! How does one marvel at such beauty? One gets on a cruise!! This sounds a little too much like a typically drunken tourist trap on the offset, and had we all got ridiculously inebriated and done a sick somewhere on the boat then that would have been wholly correct. We mainly enjoyed, however, the sights and learnt as much as possible about the bay. It seemed to be the best way to see the peaks with added extras such as kayaking, visiting a cave, swimming in the sea until sunset, food, accommodation, karaoke (somehow couldn't help myself with this one..) and stargazing. It was amazing!! This was also the last few days we had with Yury.. 😞 so he went home with a blast and some terrible Vietnamese singing.

The kayaking was my favourite I have to say. Lenk and I worked as an efficient team meandering in between some of the peaks and smashing into others. Graceful. We got it in the end! It was one of those moments we wished Dad could've been there to laugh at us.

Jumping into the sea from the boat was the next best thing on our list of things to do here! It's not as easy as you'd think! You suddenly realise how high up you are and get an anxiety attack. We managed to do it again and again though, until the sun went down.The evening ended in stargazing as all the lights went out and the whole sky became illuminated by the milky way. There was no light pollution to wreck it in sight. Breathtaking!! Then one of the Vietnamese crew members began playing a bamboo flute. It was a euphoric moment being there in Viet Nam, we are just so so lucky!!!

Next stop: HOI AN!!!! The home of Viet Nam's cheap tailor-made clothes!!

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