Hanoi - Ha Long Bay

Monday 29th May and we are back in Hanoi after completing our 3 day trip around Halong Bay.

(Pic: Hanoi street near where we stayed; fancy a toy?)

We left Saturday morning bright and early at 7.30am (a common wake up time these days) and had a 3 hr minibus journey to Halong city. Our group was thankfully small - just 5 others , 3 americans and 2 canadians. We had lunch in Halong city then took a junk boat from the harbour out onto Halong bay. We spent most of that afternoon on the deck of the boat - it was overcast, but still hot and humid. At one stage we were transferred to a small motor boat (that's the fancy name for a rowing boat with a motorised rudder) and were shown some caves in Halong Bay called "The Surprising Cave!! ... don't know where they get the names from. We had dinner on the boat that night and slept there too in little cabins - quite comfortable.

Day 2 Sunday, we were awake at 6am - between the noise and the heat its hard to "sleep in". Breakfast was at 7am and then at 7.30 we all went kayaking around the little islands and limestone karsts of Halong Bay. At that hour of the morning, the heat wasn't an issue thankfully. We were out on the water going in and out of caves and lagoons until 9.30am, then back to the big boat again. At this stage our group split as we were doing the 3 day tour and everyone else was on a 2 day tour so we transferred to another boat. Even though there was only myself and sanch on the 3 day trip, the tour company still provided a decent boat - we felt like queens !! there were about 7 guys working on the boat and just the 2 of us !!! So at 10am - we got back into the kayaks again, this time just us and the tour guide called "Tu". Another hour of kayaking around the bay in and out of lagoons, the scenery was gorgeous and it was very quiet on the water. Nearing the end, our arms were feeling the weight of the oars and were glad when we saw our boat in a little inlet.

As we neared the boat, we saw that they had anchored near a little beach and there was a beach umbrella, a table and chairs and a place setting for two on the little beach!! That was our lunch. We brought the kayaks ashore, Sanch went for a quick dip. Michelle was enjoying the setting for lunch when it started to rain so everything had to be moved back on board - bad one. It did clear up 20 minutes later but at that stage it was too late. After lunch we sat on deck in the sun; the boat was heading for Cat Ba island and we arrived at Cat Ba harbour at 3pm. We didnt get up to much in the afternoon and were rounded up by our tour guide again for dinner at 6pm. We were staying by the harbour (looked a bit like Cape Clear harbour) but the town Cat Ba town (a beach town - looks like Bray!) was about 2km inland and that's where we headed for dinner.

(Pic right: view from Suprising Cave)

For anyone who has been to this part of the world, you will know that the main mode of transport is the moped / motorbike. So we got a "backer" from our guide and another local guy to the town itself. Same mode of transportation on the way back even though the bike Michelle was on had a bit of a kamakaze driver - I was shouting at him to slow down - nothing doing then I tried "Doucement" (french for slowly or softly) - that didn't work either - he just laughed at me! In the end I gave up. The locals here could ride mopeds and bikes blindfold with one hand tied behind their backs.

(Pic: the beach where we had lunch)

We got home on Sunday night very early and were in no mood to turn in so we popped into the local bar next to the hotel - made friends with a few locals who although had very little english were friendly and tried to converse with us. In the end they found a common mode of communication - the karaoke song sheet. The boys in the bar were taking it very seriously and were giving it their all singing Vietnamese songs, then the "english girls" - as we were known were asked to participate. After sampling the local brew - vodka shots with lime - we agreed and did some highly shameful renditions of "Save the Best for Last (Vanessa Williams)", "Strangers in the Night (Frank Sinatra)", " Nobody does it better" (Carly Simon) and "Because I love you (Shakin Stevens) - we got a further request to sing this song again! And of course Dancing Queen by Abba. Please note that some of the songs were actually requests from the local lads who joined in. The local granny put a stop to the singing about 11pm and the bar duly cleared out.

Day 3 Monday, we were up for breakfast at 7.30am and got the boat back at 8am. The boat ride back to Halong city harbour took 3 hrs and another 3 hrs on a minibus back to Hanoi.

So I have now updated you all on our adventures over the last few days. Tomorrow we will be making plans to move into central Vietnam and have to go check bus / train times etc...

(Pic: Heading back to Ha Long City on day three - looking out to the South China Sea)