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For the last three days I've been touring Ha Long Bay, a few hours east of Ha Noi. Ha Long bay is a World Heritage Site and is home to about 2000 limestone islands which jut out of the sea in stunning formations. The trip started with a 4 hour bus ride to Ha Long Harbour where we boarded our ship. The ship is quite hard to describe. It was 2 stories, a main dining room area on the second floor, and cabins below. There was also a rooftop lounge area. However most of the first day was spend in the dining area while it poured rain outside. There were about 16 of us on board the first day and we all looked at the beautiful scenery of the islands that surrounded us on all sides. It actually looked really nice with the rain. Mist shrouded all the islands, they looked very mysterious. After lunch on board we stopped at Surprise Island, which has an enourmous cave. The cave was amazing, parts of the cave had little lakes in it, and there was one enourmous chamber with a ceiling of about 15 meters. However, this cave is a tourist destination and the majority of the cave is lit with fancy colored lights, and we were limited to walking along a set path. It was still quite amazing. After the cave we got back on our ship and headed to Cat Ba Island where the majority of the people on board departed to stay in a hotel for the evening. 7 of us were staying on the boat for the night. We moored our ship in a small area, surrounded on all sides by islands, and had dinner. The weather wasn't too great and swimming didn't sound too tempting so much of the night was spend reading. At some point in the evening the crew shut off the power and the fan in the room shut off, it was way too hot. And then not too long after that we were all woken up at 6:30 for breakfast. Argh.
The weather looked like it would be a bit better on the second day. But as we headed back to Cat Ba island it just got worse. Those of us doing the 3 day tour departed on Cat Ba island and checked in to a hotel, we then sat in the lobby looking at the pouring rain before heading out for our short hike in the hills. Fortunatly, when we got to the hiking area it wasn't raining and we were greeted by a local guide. The hike was quite short, only an hour and a half or so, and it was relativly easy. But we did get to see a lot of the local scenery, and the interiour of Cat Ba island is a national park. Because it was pouring rain out when we left the hotel I didn't bring my camera, but I should have, we were treated to some nice views of the harbour from our altitude. The power was out on the island so most places were running off their own generators. This led to an interesting little walk through a cave we were visiting. They took us into this small cave down a tight set of stairs, it was so dark you could not see the person standing in front of you, and our guides weren't very proficient with their flash lights. So for the next half hour we stumbled in the dark through the cave. It was actually really cool to be able to see the cave in darkness, rather then in the artificial lighting they would normally having running for us tourists. After the caves we headed back to the hotel for lunch and then fell asleep. 6:30 is much too early a start for me. That evening we wandered around a bit, but power was still out and the roads weren't very illuminated.
The next day, which is also today, we awoke early and headed back to the ship. We then started the long boat ride back to Ha Long Harbour. The weather was hot and sunny, something we didn't really have for the last two days, and it was a pity we didn't get a chance to swim. We got to the harbour, stopped for lunch, and headed back to Ha Noi. It's nice to be back in the city where you can get things for a decent price. It's lovely how these tours include all the meals but a meal doesn't include anything to drink, and all drinks are extra and overpriced. We were going to go to a German restaurant listed in our guide, but it didn't seem to exist, at the address was a tailor shop. So we stopped off at a small cafe and grabbed an early dinner. We'll probably go out tonight and check out some of the nightlife. Our Laos Visas should be ready by now, we just have to go pick them up. So we'll probably stay here for a couple more days before moving on. We had planned on meeting back up with Emily in Laos, but it seems she is filling sandbags on Koh Phi Phi in Thailand, so we're not sure if that's happening anymore. After Laos we're probably going to skip our plans to go to Chang Mai and head back to Koh Tao to do our PADI Advanced course, then down to Koh Phangnan for some Chicken Sandwiches at Chicken Corner. So yeah, that looks like the plans for the future. We've only got just over a month left then it's back to Canada. =( At least after all these 12 hour bus rides the plane ride will be nothing, especially since they have meals and entertainment.
Ok, that's all for now, I really have to sit down sometime and put some pictures up. I should have pictures for the past couple entries, although I barely took any photos in Nha Trang and Hoi An. Yeah, bye.
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