Ha Long Bay

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Ha Long bay is marvelous place to spend a day or two visiting on a visit to Vietnam. When planning the trip imagined myself sunbathing on the deck of the boat whilst looking at the natural stone structures that jut out of the the water. Unfortunately the reality was cold, dank dreary misty weather the matched my hungover state. But the weather did not stop me from admiring the natural beauty of the bay as eerie stone structures loomed through the mist.

We visited fantastic limestone caves that where subtly illuminated. Our guide tried to point out dragons and human forms in the natural formations as he gave a sketchy history of the caves.

The boat stopped at a floating village that doubled as fishfarm. Flimsy sheds where kept afloat by a series of planks and plastic barrels. Kids played in rowing boats in the same manner i played on my bike as a child. It was amazing that new evolutionary niche had been carved out and people could live and work in this way so alien to my own life.

We slept on our boat and then the next day treked on Cat Ba Island. THe trek was more of a climb and our guide put spiderman to shame. At one point he climbed up a tree and gave us some star fruit to taste. We made it to the peak and enjoyed fantastic views of the Island that made all the effort worth while.

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Photos

Trekking in Cat Ba
Phew! We made it to the top!

Fish boy
But where are his Fishermans Friends?