WOW! Never has i been anywhere as brilliant, peaceful and breathtaking as Halong Bay!

I set out with Laura & Rachel on Saturday morning, taking a 3 hour minibus with others from the hostel, to Halong City. The harbour was awash in junks and cruisers of all sizes. Climbing over a couple of other junks, we found ours, which was luxurious compared to some of the rooms I've been staying in over the last 3 weeks. With glass flat water we set out cruising thru mamoth rock islands, one after another. Every angle was a postcard. Even though there was a lot of water traffic, it still had a sense of calm.

After a massive lunch banquet we jumped in kyaks and paddled thru the islands. We stopped at a cave and walked thru to revel a hollow bay in the centre. Next we kyaked thru another cave into a massive bay with cliffs shooting hundreds of feet straight up. Anchoring in a shettled harbour, we spent the night on the boat.

The next day was more crusing, kyaking and sitting on a private beach, watching rockclimbers scale the parapets at either end. In the evening, we docked at Cat Ba Island and spent the night there (think more Rosebud than Gilligan's Island), stravingly forcing down the worst impression of pizza in the world! Upstairs at the bar, I discovered my new calling as a fusball pro!

Yesterday was another morning of beautiful scenery on the way back to the harbour. Back in Hanoi, I said a sad farewell to Rachel and Laura, my travel buddies of almost 3 weeks (they call me "manscort") as they boarded their 24 hour bus of hell to Laos. For dinner, I went out with some other people from the boat and sat with the locals on plastic stools, beside the road, next to the train line and dined on eel, pigeon and other local oddities (no wonder i got sick!).

Hanoi has been fun and now it's back for a few final days in Ho Chi Minh before coming home. Feels like I've been away forever and yet it's all over so quickly!

Tam Biet, lia suhn hao-y, laa kawn and goodbye