Ha Long Bay 01/08 - 02/08

---

We woke up on another gorgeous day in a warm dorm and headed to our bus that was picking us up to go to Ha Long City. The bus was pretty uncomfortable and we arrived 4 hours later. The boat itself to take us out was running late which isn't out of the norm in asia, but there were loads of huffy puffy people who didn't seem to grasp that in this country people can't be rushed! Soon enough our taxi boat moored up and we zoomed out into the bay. MY WORD WHAT A PLACE. There were limestone mountains everywhere you looked, some were small, some were massive and we soon joined the now not so huffy puffy people taking pictures. We were then rushed off onto another bigger boat where we had planned to stay for the night in the bay. The room itself was basic but had a private bathroom which was a bonus. The boat had 3 decks and the top was by far the place we knew we'd spend most of our time - 360 views of one of the most beautiful places in the world.

The first thing we had was lunch which was local Vietnamese which didn't disappoint. After that we sailed to where the kayaks were moored up at a floating fishing village. This was one of the most memorable parts of our trip so far. Our late boat pick up had actually worked in our favour as we were the only people on the water where we had whole bays all to ourselves. At one point we bucked the trend and set off in a direction where nobody was going. paddled through a cave which openend out into a massive private lagoon where we went swimming - it was bliss. Unfortunately people saw us heading off and followed us in. A local guide saw us and announced "its good for swimming here" and proceeded to step out on very sharp rocks and cut his foot open. No idea why he didn't just jump off the kayak in the middle of the water? Maybe we should have been the tour guides....

After our leisurely paddle back (get your money's worth) we jumped off the diving platform of the boat a few times and set sail into the sunset. Chilled house music in our ears and cold beers in our hands - this was really a moment to savour. We tucked into another great dinner and had a "beer party". A huge keg of beer all for free! It didn't have a tap so it was a two man job to pour the keg from the top whilst holding the bucket we poured it into - but can't complain!

The next morning we set an alarm to see the sunrise so scampered up to the viewing deck. It was unreal. Bright pinks and oranges with the shadows of the mountains lighting up the water - spectacular and so peaceful. After breakfast we had a cooking course learning how to make spring rolls, pretty fiddly stuff with the rice paper but it was fun and we produced some respectable accompaniments for lunch. More sailing around paradise then they put the diving platforms down again and we all spent time jumping into the warm water before finally heading back to Hanoi, what a couple of days!

---