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Monday, we were woken at 4:30am for our arrival into Hanoi, we had to walk to a hotel where they were holding our bus tickets to Cat Ba for us. We were very early but managed to wake the security guard and sleep in the lobby with him for a hour and a half until the receptionist came around 6:30am then off we went to catch our bus. Our bus was at 7:15 and took about 4 hours in total including the ferry across to Cat Ba Island, we were so tired when we finally arrived! We found a hotel and headed straight out for some food, after we took showers then walked along to the different booking agencies to book a boat trip for the next two days around Halong Bay. We had some cheap massages, Laura had back, shoulders and neck and Ben, Matt and Katy had foot. After, we had some dinner then had a early night.
Tuesday, we had breakfast then boarded our boat at 9:00, just the four of us so a nice private trip! Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km squares including 1,960-2,000 islets, mostly limestone karsts each topped with jungle vegetation rising from the sea, several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. We sailed through the Isles that run between all the karsts and sailed to a floating fishing village, these people live out on the water, it's incredible, and they still have pet dogs and cats! We sailed to a kayak rental to pick up some kayaks then sailed off to a scenic and shallow location to do some kayaking, it was fun kayaking around the formations and through tunnels and caves, unfortunately though the closer we were to the water we realised how polluted it is and lots of rubbish floating around. Ben enjoyed making loud noises which echoed against all the different rocks, we saw monkeys in the trees and a huge jellyfish. After, we climbed back on the boat and we were served lunch, a fresh whole fish, spring rolls, rice, morning glory (a Spinach like vegetable) and squid with pineapple and carrot, it was yummy. We sailed around some more taking in the amount of islands and beauty, the captain anchored in a bay and Ben, Matt, Katy and Captains Mate kayaked to the beach and climbed into a cave, Laura took a nap! When they got in the kayaks to come back Katy managed to tip herself and Captains Mate out into the water which left him shouting and murmuring away in Vietnamese. We sailed back to the Kayak rental to drop off our kayaks and docked there for some dinner, we had pretty much the same as lunch. We played lots of games of cards whilst our Captain and Captains mate got merry with their friends listening to awful music, after, we sailed out to a quiet sheltered area where we anchored for bedtime, all 4 of us in a cosy little cabin.
Wednesday, we had a nice little lie in and were woke for breakfast, a very greasy omelette! We sailed back to the kayak rental to grab our kayaks and off we went again to a nice picturesque location where we went off kayaking. Laura and Katy had enough after a hour so went back aboard to read and the boys went exploring for another hour, we started to worry they had got lost! When they got back they did some jumping off the boat and then we were served lunch, again, exactly the same lunch as the day before! We sailed back to the kayak rental to give the kayaks back and the owners let us see their 70kg fish under their floating shop, Ben didn't believe it until he saw it and it was massive! Apparently a lot of floating villages have huge fish underneath for good luck. We sailed to Monkey Island, a nice beach with monkeys running around, then sailed back to Cat Ba Island. We found a hotel, had showers then went for dinner, glad to have something other than rice and fish! We watched a movie in our room then went to bed.
Thursday, we had a bit of a lie in, ate breakfast the rented some bikes to explore Cat Ba Island. We drove to Hospital Cave, a cave used as a secret bomb-proof hospital during the American War, then drove to the National Park for a hike up to the view point over looking the island which was very beautiful! The National Park is also home to the Cat Ba Langur, golden headed monkies, there are only 60 left, we didn't see any. Whilst trekking we came across a rather large bright red crab which was very unexpected! After, we drove back to town and had some lunch, we were collected at 16:00 for our bus back to Hanoi.
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