Hey all!!Here's the long overdue update for Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba, hope the blogs are worth the wait! Our experience at Halong Bay started with yet another long bus journey, yet this time it was through some of the most beautiful landscapes you can see. Trees, small stalls and rice fields lined the entirity of our 4 hour journey to our first stop.We arrived at Ha Long Bay Port and proceeded to the boat, where we had a very fresh seafood lunch en-route to the caves in Cat Ba island. The caves (known as Hang Sung Sot in Vietnamese) were extremely vast and full of all sorts of rock formation and colours. Pretty cool to look at, although climbing the hill and the steps inside to get to them meant that one of the best bits was getting an ice cream at the top with great views of the islands! Once our cooling off session was complete, we returned to the boat and continued to sail through the very picturesque sights of the islands. After an "interesting" encounter with another ship we opted to anchor at a scenic point whereby we all climbed the roof of the boat and jumped into the clear waters for a swim. Once back on the boat we continued to our hotel. Note to anyone who visits Cat Ba island - don't turn down the offer of a cheap ride to your hotel as while it may only be a kilometre away, it's all uphill!! After checking into another surprisingly pleasant hotel, we had a quick (downhill) explore of the town before dinner, with more fresh seafood.After battling with a fidley crab for nearly 2 hours at the dinner table we headed down to play some pool with the locals, doing Europe proud by winning 2 games to 1.The next day we hit the beach, where the fun of the massive waves made up for the lack of sunshine in Vietnam's rainy season. A brisk lunch of local Pot Noodle (joy) preceded the choppy return boat journey to Hanoi.Mette's boat journey-long conversation with the girls on the trip about cakes and ice cream meant that a return to the ice cream cafe on the lake was in order. Fully refreshed, we went onto the final dinner of the tour, with good food and an attempted apology for some of the immature behavior demonstrated by our tour guide. Then what better way could you end a tour, than with a few beers on the streets of Hanoi, for 6p a glass!!! Hope all's well back home!Paul and Mette xxx