Cruising around the bay

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We are in Halong town at the moment after a great day cruising around Halong Bay. We arrived in Hanoi at 5am this morning after getting the overnight sleeper train from Hue. The train ride was actually quite good fun despite it being 13hrs long. We were in cabins that slept 4 which was fine although it probably would not be quite so good if you did not know the rest of the people you were sharing with. The food they served on the train left a bit to be desired. Think airline food but worse!

We got the bus from Hanoi to Halong Bay this morning which took a few hours then we boarded our boat. We had a boat between the 12 of us and our guide so that was really nice. Getting on the boat was a bit tricky as there were about 5 boats between us and the harbour so we had to climb from one boat to another.

Once we were all aboard we spent the next 5 hours cruising the bay. it is lovely. It is clear blue waters with hundreds of small rocky islands in it. There are also several caves one of which we went inside. The highlight of the trip was probably swimming in the sea. The boat moored up and we all jumped off the side into the sea. The sea was warm (by British standards) and it was nice to cool off. The weather was a lot warmer than in Hue so my fleece has gone from being useful to being generally annoying again!

We are going back to Hanoi tomorrow where the trip ends.

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[Fran]

Info on Vietnam
I am leaving for Vietnam in 3 weeks... Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, HCMC... any tips/info you can give would be helpful!