After a very early start arriving from Sapa on the train in the pouring (and I mean pouring) rain, we caught a bus to Halong City and then a junk boat to Catba Island in Halong Bay. A UNESCO heritage site, Halong Bay consists of 3000 limestone outcroppings that are so picturesque, my camera will not do it justice. Had a really fun group of 12 "y...

Woke at 7am and was getting picked up at 8am to go to Halong Bay town where we would meet our boat! The boat was really nice. Me and George shared a room and Gemma shared with this girl from Aus. All the rooms had air con and were really nice. it was like a little pirate ship!! We all had some lunch and then just chilled on the boat for a couple...

Whereas we did not initially take to Hanoi as much as the south, Halong Bay, the main natural attraction of the country, was an instant hit with us as well as everyone else on our tour. The tours running to this popular destination from Hanoi are notorious for over promising and under delivering. Jen had done her homework though and we had some ...

Trying to be clever we got a bus to Halong planning to choose a boat when we got there, then we wouldnt get ripped off or scammed by one of the dodgy agents in Hanoi. Sounded easy but when we got to the port is was chaos, there were hundreds of boats and thousands of people and though it was dead easy to buy a ticket no one would show us what bo...

We arrived at Halong Bay at around Midday to pick up our boat and set off on our overnight cruise. We weren't expecting a great boat as the intrepid guide had said it could be a bit cramped, so we were well pleased when our three storey junk boat moored up with cold towels handed to us as we boarded. Even better was the multi course lunch we wer...

*************************************** *************************************** ******** Reports will be very short from here on - if I write something at all. I will update it with pictures from home. So everyone who will not have the pleaure going through millions of picture with me personally can reads his/her way through my trip. I will just...

(written by Derek) A reminder too all travelling to Vietnam. This was a heads up by a friend of ours we used to work with at RIM (Geoff Evason) about travelling in Vietnam. You always feel like you are being taken. After only a few days this really hit home with us. Atleast in Thailand and Laos you felt like when you were negotiating they were e...

According to legend, the magnificent landscapes of Ha Long Bay are the result of the spectacular descent of a dragon. While one of the many old names for Hanoi (Thanh Long) meant City of the Soaring Dragon, Ha Long Bay is said to be where the dragon descended on its way into the sea. Its flailing tail gouged out the mountainside as it made its d...

Awoke to heavy mist. We had a very light breakfast. Some went to visit the lagoon that you access via a cave, others stayed to fish. Lunch buffet was very nice. Van trip back to Hanoi was long. We had the rest of the afternoon to scoure the streets of Old Quarters for treasures. Tomorrow we fly home and then schools starts (for us) on Tuesday. I...

I just returned from a three day, two night tour to Halong Bay. Usually I am not very thrilled by these tours, but this one, other than the ****** weather, was pretty good. The first day we sailed out on a mock junk through hundreds of amazing limestone islands. It was foggy, but it kind of added to the mystery and beauty of the bay. We were onl...