Ha Long Bay. 4 Sept - 5 Sept 2015.

Our excursion to Ha Long Bay began with us being picked up by a coach in the rain for our two day one night tour. Our tour guide was Ken, a sexist Vietnamese man who at first I expected to hate but grew to like. His jokes were awful as was the delivery of them, however the style was unique.

The coach journey to Ha Long took us four hours to the coast east of Hanoi. Once there we boarded our tour boat and was shown to the room. The boat had around 15 rooms, a dining room and top deck. After settling in we had some lunch and a few beers on the top deck during a brief interlude from the rain whilst the boat motored towards the rocky islands that the bay is famous for. We were then taken to the caves on one of the islands which was vast inside. After many photos were taken of the caves and epic surrounding scenery, we boarded the boat once again and set sail to the point we would anchor for the night.

Around an hour before sunset we were allowed to swim around in the bay until night fell. We used the time to jump off the boat in different daring ways, climb up the anchor rope onto the boat and also attempt to swim around the vessel which was successful.

After dinner we were given the opportunity to go squid fishing. This consisted of a hook, with no bait, attached to a line on a pole over the edge of the front of the boat. I was not hopeful we'd catch anything, we didn't, we drowned our sorrows.

The following day we were woken at 7:30 by Ken shouting outside our room that breakfast was ready and announcing that we had 40 minutes to kayak. It was pouring down with rain but that didn't deter us. After boarding a kayak we paddled around, exploring the floating villages set up to accomodate the fishing communities. Before heading back I decided to jump out of the kayak for a swim in the warm bay water and escape the annoyance of the rain for a short time. My swim was quickly shortened by an annoyed Ken shouting from the boat that swimming was not permitted during this time. Barry had paddled away in our dual kayak by this point for his own amusement so I had no choice but to swim around for a bit until he returned.

Before lunch we were given a cooking class and taught to make traditional Vietnamese spring rolls. I'm pretty sure that this activity was being held because the cooking staff didn't want to spend time wrapping spring rolls. However it filled some time prior to lunch as we headed back to the harbour to end our Ha Long Bay excursion. It was a shame that the weather did not impove during our time at Ha Long however it was a fantastic experience and one of the most picturesque places I have ever been.

Following another four hour minibus transfer back to Hanoi, I boarded the fourteen hour night bus to Hue which is roughly halfway down the coast of Vietnam. The bus was an experience especially because there was no toilet on board. This meant that the vehicle would stop every two hours for people to get off and use the basic facilities in the 'services.' The bus itself was very comfy with leather seats that stayed perminently reclined and I slept relatively well. By the time I reached Hue however I was glad to get off.

Max :)