Halong Bay Hotel

... took 3 hours on the boat to get us to Halong City, and from there it was back onto a minibus and back to the mayhem of Hanoi.

All I can really say more about Halong Bay itself is that I think I'm going to struggle going anywhere else on this trip that can rival the place for it's beauty. If anyone reading this is thinking about going to Vietnam, or even wondering where to go for a holiday, then get yourselves to Halong Bay. You will not be disappointed.

UTV

Bazz

... of karst inlets and took in the wonderful sea scape, we relaxed with a beer on the roof of the boat. We then headed into some kayaks and paddled in through some caves and explored the general area around some of the most spectacular scenery i have ever witnessed. the sun was beating down, and after a few minutes, mark and myself had got ourselves syncronised in the tandom kayak. it was really brillant. we got back then on the boat and after a while the group was separated. us ...

... on the boat before sleeping, you guessed it - on the boat.

During the second day we caught a smaller boat out to one of the smaller islands where we walked around, seeing small villages dotted around the island. It was a dam hot day and we were very happy when we got a chance to go for a swim when we returned, before heading to Cat Ba island. Cat Ba island is the largest island in the bay, in the middle of Cat Ba national park, and has essentially been turned into a bit of ...

... as dates extending back into the 1940s.

We eventually made our way back onto the boat and were invited to sit on the top deck's comfortable lounging chairs and watch the sun set while we motored on to a quiet bay--where the boat would be moored and the air conditioning and hot water would be turned on in our rooms for the evening. Once stopped, some people went for a swim, including Bill. One thing to mention--women in small row boats ...

... thought to be toast and then we realised it was actually just really stale bread, accompanied by the greasiest omelette in existence and a small pot of butter and jam. When we had the cheek to ask for more butter we were told there wasn't any (small point here but at least tell us we can't have any, not there there isn't any as clearly this is a lie!). We were then kicked out of our rooms, but not too much sadness about that, and spent the rest of the time sunbathing on ...

... that it was actually quite painful as only one other person in our group did it! The water was really refreshing and it made us laugh that a hawker came up to us in her boat to try to sell us stuff. Sorry, we don't happen to have our wallets on us!

We then settled in for the night with dinner then drinks and karaoke! Drew got the crowd warmed up with his rendition of Mustang Sally, which was so good it broke the microphone ...

... not altogether sure that this was even a real park entrance, there certainly weren't any signs. Around 5 minutes in Luc is already refusing to go any further, the trail is steep, rocky, muddy and very slick in the rain... and his flip flops are not exactly offering any support (neither are mine or anyone else's though). He is again told that he really has no choice so we continue on... not a very happy group altogether. This trip in general with all it's dissapointsments and ...