Hanoi and Halong bay

Halong Bay

We arrived in Hanoi after the worst sleeping bus journey ever! But thankfully the last we have to do for a while. It's a really pretty city but really busy and hard to navigate around- there are lots of little side streets and roads going off at strange angles.  Nightmare! We got lost more than a couple of times.  

Floating village- people live there all the time

We decided to go on a trip to Halong bay for 3 days and 2 nights.  We went on a boat and cruised around the bay for a few hours then visited 'surprising cave' which had lots of rock formations and stalactites.  It was huge and had 3 chambers.  The surprise was a rock formation in the 3rd chamber which looked like a finger pointing or a something more rude depending on your imagination! 


After the cave we kayaked around the bay for a while which was lovely and peaceful.  It is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been to.  We stayed on the boat that night, at night the bay was really beautiful with lots of boats lit up and huge islands in the background.  The Vietnamese are mad about karaoke and right across the bay you could hear singing from the different boats so good but lots of bad! There didn't seem to be a limit on the number of boats allowed on the bay at once so there were literally hundreds there.  Not good during the day but beautiful at night.  



The next day we got up at 5 to see the sunrise but realised it was getting light but there was no sun- it was directly behind a rock we were parked next to. 

Rickety viewpoint- worth the scary climb though.
Later we were dropped off at an island to visit the national park.  We climbed up to a viewpoint and to the top off a rickety tower- very scary!- to look at the view which was amazing.  

View from the top of the mountain
After that we checked into our hotel which promised a sauna and steam room but both were being refurbished when we got there- typical.  

Cheeky monkey!

It didn't matter though, in the afternoon we went to monkey island so called because of the group of monkeys that live there.  The guides feed the monkeys so they are vicious! One chased after me to try to get my shoelaces and pawed at my legs with its cold little hands. Another lady in our group got bitten by one- rabies shot needed!  We swam in the sea as the sun came out briefly, then watched the sunset on the way home.  It was lovely. 

Sunset from monkey island

The next morning we got the boat and a bus back to Hanoi which took all day.  In Hanoi we decided to buy a little lap top which is what I'm using now :0) so we can be in touch more often.