There are soooooo many tour shops in Hanoi each offering 'exclusive' cruises for peanuts, and so many stories on the net of bad experiences. Some people had encountered rats on board, overcrowded boats, crazy tour guides and lots of other bad experiences. We opted for a cruise with a company called Handspan, who promised a luxury boat (called the Lagoon Explorer 2) with a maximum of 8 passengers, a la carte meals, English speaking guide, and a really good itinerary, ... and they didn't disappoint!! Our journey began on an air conditioned mini bus that took 4 hours to reach the bay. On arrival we were told that there was only one other couple who had booked to go on our boat, so it turned out to be rather 'exclusive' after all!! The other couple were
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