We pulled into Hanoi at 4.30am! With our eyes just open we made it
back to Elizabeth Hotel to catch up on some emails before setting off
to Halong Bay. Back on the bus again for three hours we stopped and
grabbed some fantastic egg, bacon and cheese bagettes (or it could have
been we were starving) before getting back in the bus. We had another
wait at Halong City before boarding our boat in bright blue sky and
brilliant sunshine! We set off on our cruise along Halong Bay with a
seafood lunch onboard. Our first stop was at the … caves we wandered
through back on the boat only to nearly leave one of our passengers
behind. We set off again through floating villages and through the
spectacular formations of the bay. Next stop, kayaking! After our
previous experience we now considered ourselves experts or close too
especially given the absolute stillness of the water compared to that
of Laos. Back on board to our docking point, we were finally allowed to
jump in! Joined only by a few others we enjoyed a late afternoon swim
in the quite warm bay! Swimming was called to a halt to take some
pictures of the amazing sunset….. only for the batteries to run out!!
Showers and it was time for dinner on board! After dinner we had a few
beers and a game of cards with some others including our Vietnamese
Tour Guide whom we tried to teach the rules of “Cheat”,…. impossible..
but very amusing cos he just couldn‘t cheat “oh my Buddha”. We chilled
on the roof under the stars before bed.
Up at 4.30am to see the sunrise (with fully charged camera
batteries, our batteries we definitely still running low!). But
unfortunately it was too overcast, instead we enjoyed an beautiful
transition from dark to light without the sun rise. After a few
reasonable photo’s we crashed for a couple more hours. After a light
breaky we cruised to Cat Ba Island. After a friends had said the trek
was a short walk along a path. Carly set off in thongs and shorts. Two
and a half hours later up two very substantial hills, no path and lots
of grit and sweat the thongs were not such a great idea. But the
magnificent views of the harbour and national park were worth it.
A easy climb down and we jumped back on the bus to our motel with
beautiful views overlooking the harbour. After lunch we walked to Cat
Ba Beach 1 and 2 after a quick swim to cool off dodging the litter and
huge weed we went back into town. We met up with our group for dinner (
which was the same as dinner the night before and the past two lunches)
tofu, vegies, squid and spring rolls. We wandered up the street, alive
with street performers and locals before crashing early to catch up on
some well needed sleep, in a stationary bed
Feeling refreshed we joined the others for breaky. Before a long
journey back to Hanoi, back on the bus to the harbour ,to the boat to
Halong city, to the second (very hot!) bus and finally back to
Elizabeth Hotel to pick up our bags and washing and then a taxi to the
airport. Next on the plane to Bangkok! Jez was pretty happy to see the
back of Hanoi! We arrived in Bangkok at 11pm with plenty of time to
kill before our next flight to Koh Sumui at 6am! We checked in our bags
and wandered around the airport, grabbed some burgers and watched the
soccer with the rest of those stuck at the airport at 3am in the
morning sprawled out on the floor out the front of one of the
restaurants. Finally 6am arrived and we set off for Koh Sumui!!! Source: Travel Blog
