Week 6- Vietnam (Halong Bay) Day 4

So today our alarm went off at 6.45am and we were up preparing for our overnight boat trip to Halong Bay. We were hoping for a lay in today, however, sleeping is cheating so up we got! We had breakfast included with our room so we headed down to the dining area. I had a fried egg baguette and Gem just had jam and toast, she isn't feeling top great today unfortunately. As always the bus was about 30 minutes late in true Asian style, never has any means of transport turned up at the right time!

Once on the bus we had a 4 hour journey to Halong Bay, although, the people on the tourseemed friendly and the guide was a happy chappy so it was all good! We managed to do the journey in 3 and a half hours which was a touch! We arrived at the port and got a small boat to the big boat we were staying on, where we were greeted aboard with a welcome drink and cold flannel. The boat was awesome and our cabin was ridiculously cute! It's so much fun laying in bed looking straight out to sea! The boat was at a lot better quality than we were expecting, so that was a pleasant surprise! Once we had checked into our cabin we headed upstairs for lunch. They had set the table up really nicely and the food was delicious. It was good to get to know the people on the boat, we sat talking to a couple from the States which was cool. We were telling them all about Jackfruit home stay in Hoi An and told them they must stay there!!

After lunch we headed out on the smaller boat. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, we have some incredible photos. It almost looked like a painting it was that picturesque. We visited some caves. This involved walking up a lot of steps into the hillside! The caves were cool to see, however, it felt like they had been ruined a bit by the tourism! There was many signs/rubbish bins/ropes inside them so we felt like they were not as magnificent as they had once been. Nevertheless, it was interesting to hear our guide talk about the history of the caves.

We then Stopped off at the floating village and had the opportunity to kayak around for 40minutes. Well this was hilarious, can you imagine myself and Gemma in a kayak? The floating village was an eye opener, it was crazy to see the families living there! The little huts they lived in had huge polystyrene boxes attached to the bottom and that's how they kept afloat, completely bonkers! We saw little fishing boats pull up at the huts selling them produce so we think that's how they got their groceries. Of all questions Gemma could ask about the village she was most concerned about how they received post.. Obviously...!

Our last stop of the day was at the beach. We had the opportunity to trek up the hillside and swim in the sea. Gemma was still feeling unwell and achy so she decided to chill on the beach. I went with others up to the viewing area... As we started climbing the stairs I thought this isn't too bad and could see a platform above us. Once we reached it I was pretty out of breath but then realised I few more steps into the trees. It the time I thought a few more steps won't hurt.. My god if I knew how many more steps there were I would not have climbed up them. I literally collapsed in a heap struggling to breathe at the top (yes I am unfit). However, it was a beautiful breathtaking view across the whole of Halong Bay. It was well worth the effort and pain climbing up. The climb down wasn't so horrendous although I did feel like I might go head first down a few of the steps!

I celebrated with a diet coke and box of sweet popcorn at the bottom with Gemma and she has fresh coconut milk. It was nice to relax on the beach although it wasn't very warm. Down the other side of the beach there were monkeys on the rocks. I had a walk down there to get some pictures, however, I was a lot more curious after my monkey incident in Goa! I stood well back compared to the others taking photos. At one point the monkeys surrounded a girl and I think they wanted her camera (a local said if you get too close they steal your cameras and you have to persuade them to give it back by offering bananas.. Absolutely hilarious). They seemed quite vicious monkeys although what can you expect from wild monkeys in their own environment!

We got back on our big boat and had time to chill and shower before dinner. The showers were amazing, so big, boiling hot and powerful! We had a bit of time before dinner so we sat on the top deck of the boat taking to the others about our work etc. it was a beautiful evening and it was just turning dark. There were a lot of others boats around us so all the lights were really pretty.

Before dinner our guide (Huy) gave us a cooking demonstration. He showed us how to make fried spring rolls and we were given the chance to make them afterwards. Myself and Gemma are going to be absolute pros by the time we leave Asia! The dinner itself was lovely, plenty to go round and really tasty!

After dinner the crew put on music and we chilled out on the boat, I even had a mojito cocktail, it was delicious! The people on our tour were from all over the world including; Spain, Israel, America and Denmark so we had some really interesting conversations about our home countries. Gemma was still feeling unwell so headed to bed to try and sleep it off, we haven't given ourselves much time to relax while we have been in Vietnam.. There has been too much to see and do! I decided to attempt some night fishing with the girls from Denmark, let's just say attempt is the main word in this sentence! I was absolutely useless but it was rather entertaining! I didn't last very long until I gave up and headed onto the top deck, not long after I retired off to bed as well! It was cool to be sleeping on a boat and seeing the other boats from our window! So all in all it has been a fabulous yet tiring day!