Halong 1 Hotel Halong Bay

... we hit the sack. Our room was really nice and we slept well.<br><br>Next day we woke up at 7am for fruit and egg breakfast, then set sail for a small island for a bit of mountain biking to a local village. The ride was really good and took us up through some hills and paddy fields then back down into a village. No berms or jumps unfortunately. We stopped here for half an hour and met some of the locals who were playing ...

... looked pretty miserable to be there! We had a small boat take us over to our Junk boat - The Jolly Roger - and within minutes were all sitting up on the sun deck beer in hand, listening to some tunes and aquainting ourselves with everyone on the tour. We had a good mix of nationalities including Brits, Scots, Welsh, Canadians, Dutch, Brazilians, Aussies and a couple of people from Chile. We stopped for a beautifully prepared lunch and then it was time to jump off ...

During the Break I took out my personal XO and sat down outside to begin writing this blog.<br>Within about 5 minutes, Sinh rowed over. He wanted to see more activities. Oh, I could see the beginnings of our own village IT Team already. And couldn't say no. I showed Sinh the Memorize Activity. A few minutes went by and the boys, Dat and Duan joined us. Then Nyuyet and Ha came. And 4 children ...

... the Vietnamese people, food and landscape.<br><br>Lonely Planet dis's the towns along the bay. I think Hong Gai is lovely and charming! There is not so much car traffic and there are still many bicycles along with the scooters. Everyone drives slowly and carefully. There are large flower and decorative arrangements in the street medians, and the buildings are architecturally interesting. The bustling 'real city" of Hong Gai is very exotic. The ...

... was supposed to be the Hospital Cave, this cave was used by the VietCong during the Vietnam War and was so well hidden that it was never found by the Americans. It was so well hidden in fact that we sped right past it and had to double back down the road once we'd asked for directions at the National Park office. The guide at the cave was quite funny - he spoke terrible English and couldn't answer even the most basic of question. He did have a script of sorts that he knew ...

... sunbathed in the morning with only two other people on the beach. Until midday it felt like our own private piece of paradise (except for the monkeys!) then at 1pm a new group of tourists arrived. It was still quite in the afternoon as people disappeared on kayaks and climbs to see the monkeys. We relaxed and packed for our trip back the next morning to Hanoi. <br><br>20th October<br>After breakfast we took the small boat back to Cat Ba. The minibus then ...

... dinner Tom wanted a few of us to go out to a local bar with him, I was the only one who volunteered. So off we went. It wasn't too bad a bar to be honest, and the staff inside were friendly enough. I had a couple of shots of rice wine, and also some local whiskey that had a snake inside it! Chatting to Tom I found out he'd got 1 year old twin sons, and was looking to buy land on Cat Ba Island so that he can move his family up to there and away from the hustle of Hanoi. His ...

... and through the forest was great fun though! The end result was amazing. We caught our breath at the top, the highest peak of Cat<br> Ba island, the bay spread out far below us. Had a great sense of pride and achievement and then realised we would have to go all the way down again!! Dose! <br><br> A few bowls of rice later .....<br><br> We took a boat through a fishing village. Whole villages ...

This place is simply beautiful, words can not do this place justice - stunning rocks outs of the sea all around (formed at the same time as the Himalayas)<br>I will not try to explain it - will upload pictures a let you see for yourself.<br>But this is must visit for anyone going to Vietnam.<br><br>Docked the boat at one of the rocks and visited caves, docked at a beach, swam in the sea, jumped off the boat in to warm water ans played volleyball on the beach with the ...

... he saw and haggled for the fare. I swear I hadn't yet met a motorbike man that doesn't open up the pricing back and forth without saying; "100,000 VND". "No, I'm not giving you 100,000. How about 10,000?".He mimicked crying and threw back "80,000". "No. I can only give you $2". We settled on $3. A room at the guest house was only $5!<br><br>I ended up walking around in the pouring rain for an hour searching for a place with any ...