Vietnam. Travelled 3 1/2 hours by boat yesterday from Hanoi toHalong Bay. H Bay is known as vietnams greatest natural wonder and is a unesco wprld heritage sight. It's made up of over 3000 rocks and islands jutting up out of the sea. It is where scenes form James Man with Golden gun were shot! It's absolutely awsome-These enormous dragon like rock formations rise out of the water andf tiny fishing communities on stilts are dotted all around. Our accommodation for the night was a junk, a traditional boat from vietnam. It consisted of 5 shared cabins along the lower deck, a dining area on the middle deck and a verandah area for sitting after dinner. The cabins were beautiful-each bed had a kimono and flip flops and the bedding was gorgeous. The food was also first class and they served local wine or beer with each meal. I feel like all I've done is eat and drink for the last 24 hours. Big king prawns, steamed fish, local salads and fresh clams. Absolutely beautiful! On the first sfternoon we sailed out into the islands and went to see the most amazing rock formation. The cave was more than three thousand years old and has been used by firshermen for thousands of years to take cover from bad weather. Some fishermen had been forced to shelter in them for months at a time in the past and while they were beautifully lit now, in their time they would have relied on match light. They were incredible and worth the 400 steps to reach! Afterwards we returned to the boat to go kayaking. The phots are hilarious and we were mostly useless! I was going to wear jeans and am so pleased i didn't cos I got thoroughly drenched! We then had a swim around and off the boat-an awesome experience. Dinner after was served as silver service and we had a series of courses all stunning! The following day after breakfast at 7! we sialed to a near by cove for more swimming before heading back to land for the drive back to hanoi. Halong bay was truly one of the most amazing places i have ever seen . It was so peaceful nd we got such a good introduction to the liocal people and how they live. They've estblished entire communities on stilts in the water with schools and medival centres. The schools only go up to primary age and then children have to go to the main land for schooling. Most families however cannot afford the fees and their children follow into the family business. Schooling is a real luxury here still and this is the case in most of vietnam. It is the choice of sending your child to school or feeding the family so for many it's not possible. They follow many old customs here-14% of vietnamese live in the mountains and very few have elctricity or clean water. When women marry in certain ethnic groups the they are never allowed to cutbtheir hair again. The hair can be 3 metres long and they wear it wound up. In another culture once women are married they have to shave their eyebrows. Vietnam has so far been a real eye opener and we have been lucky enough to have a fantastic guide who has gone beyond the usual tourist infomation to give us a real flavour of local culture. staggering!! I'm having to buy a new camera tomorrow as mine has packed up but will attach phots from trip