Having driven for 3 hours from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay by coach, we were super excited to arrive at the pier and to be told by our tour guide that we had been upgraded to the deluxe boat. This excitement didn't last very long after we were informed 20 minutes later that a typhoon was on its way and therefore our itinerary had been changed. I immediately imagined a "Perfect Storm" type scenario whereas Adam convinced by his expertise (having watched a few episodes of the deadliest catch) saw it as an exciting challenge. Whilst we were still heading to the caves and the floating village where we were scheduled to go kayaking, it meant that we weren't going to be able to visit the famous view point - I fell in love with Halong Bay after looking at Kirsty and olly's pictures from this very spot so naturally I was gutted. When this info was passed on to Adam his only concern was whether lunch was still happening as scheduled, so as you can imagine he wasn't all that fussed. We boarded our mini long boat which taxied us over to our big boat and we were off! The first activity of the day much to Adams delight was lunch. It was an absolute feast!! The food did not stop coming however, when you are served deep fried sweet corn and squid you become surprisingly full surprisingly fast. After filling our bellies we headed off to some caves where we had various animal shaped rock formations pointed out to us, and Adam was even able to put his degree to use and point out stalactites and stalagmites, making him feel super smart for a whole 5 minutes. From the caves we went straight to the floating village where we were due to spend an hour kayaking through beautiful caves (reportedly used in a James Bond film) and checking out the scenery. Then something truly horrific but yet oh so hilarious happened. Adam got the s***s. It seems when your eyes are bigger than your belly and you indulge in a bit too much seafood it comes back to haunt you. Stranded in the middle of the sea he had no choice but to paddle to shore and run behind some rocks, praying that no one would come around the corner. Thankfully I had some wet wipes otherwise that boy would have been swimming back to the boat. I think it's safe to say he is now at one with nature. Jumping back in with a smile back on his face, and informing me it was the colour of his life jacket - I know you didn't need to know that but quite frankly neither did I so we can suffer together, he had a burst of energy for 5mins before nearly steering us into a giant boat head first so we figured it was a sign to go back to the group.

Once everyone had been accounted for the boat headed off towards Cat Ba Island. The lovely Chinese tourists on our trip offered us sugar cane. Despite being a little weary at first, I decided to give it a go and honestly it tasted amazing!!! I'm quite tempted to buy my own tomorrow and its probably healthier than a snickers bar.

As well as an appealing karaoke machine (which my new Chinese friends are currently enjoying) the evenings agenda consisted of a cooking class, in which were taught how to make Vietnamese spring rolls. The class was thankfully quite basic - the ingredients were prepared and all we needed was to wrap them. We soon realised we were actually preparing our own dinner, but in hindsight following Adam's experience it was probably a good thing that we knew they had been prepared with clean hands.

As we let our dinner digest and we caught some fresh air on the deck, the lovely Vietnamese tour guide approached us and invited us to go fishing. I was a little sceptical since it was 8pm at night and pitch black, but I'm sure you can all guess Adam's reaction so here I am fishing at night. Apparently we are squid fishing however, I have seen the giant floodlights the squid fishing boats use to catch their prey and there is no way in hell this little tea tree light they have given us is going to work! Nevertheless to appease Adam we give it a go and before you know it I'm dangling half way over the end of the boat trying to untangle his rod from the boats anchor. Very smooth - Robson Green would be very proud! Feeling a little deflated and accepting defeat, we spent the rest of the evening playing skip-bo, a card game my grandma taught me and Adam, with a lovely group of German girls on our trip. Whilst we didn't win it was still lots of fun and there's nothing quite like a little home comfort after 4 weeks on the road.

As we slept like little babies in our cabin that night a huge thunder storm kicked off around 3am giving us the biggest fright of our lives. I can honestly say I have never heard anything quite like it, and genuinely thought that we were done for. For protection I had only one choice.... to hide under my duvet. After a little reassurance that the storm wasn't close by I decided to peak out from my hideout and I must admit it was quite spectacular watching the entire night sky light up. Before I knew it I was back to the land of nod.

Day two on the "Ha Long Bay Abenteuer" kick started with breakfast, which was thankfully not deep fried. 8 eggs and 5 pieces of toast later Adam was ready to face the day. I sincerely hope he doesn't pass wind or I am definitely done for - storm or no storm.

We visited the Cat Ba National Park and endured a gruelling sweaty and somewhat challenging climb up to the top, and I must admit it was even more terrifying on the way down as there was only one path, which was a mere 3 foot wide and somewhat wet following the downpour from the night before. The rusty step ladder hindered more than it helped as you couldn't quite shake the feeling that it was going to give way at any minute. Still, the view from the top was beautiful and hopefully I have managed to work off all that deep fried food, so it was a worthwhile experience and I'm convinced that Bear Grills would be impressed with my skills, especially as I only had primarks finest flip flops to my aid. And before my mother decides to tell me off for my poor choice of shoes I did ask the guide before and she gave me the thumbs up. She must be into extreme sports, clearly. Also, I think a big thank you is owed to the Mumford family for taking me rock climbing in the summer as I definitely found it a lot easier than the last (and only) time I climbed a mountain.

We were then taken for lunch in Cat Na Mainland before we were whisked away as we had chosen to stay in the beach bungalows rather than the hotel. I honestly think the beach bungalow was the best option as there nothing to do on Cat Ba Island and the view from our bedroom window was a lot prettier. However........

When we boarded the boat we were approached by our guide who pointed at us and said superior bungalow and then pointed at our german friends Antje, Tina, Nina and Katie and said deluxe. The jokes then started about how we were staying in a hole in the ground but little did we know how true this would be. We were greeted at the pier by a range of lovely looking bungalows which overlooked the sea, each spacious clean and with their own private porch. When we were shown our little shack (video to come) we were a little disappointed however, in hindsight we had paid half of what everyone else had paid and we had stayed in the best room on the boat so we couldn't really complain. And even if we had complained, I doubt anything would have happened! As we unlocked our padlocked house (wendy house)we reminded ourselves that we had a fantastic view and we were right next to the dinning area (super important if your name is Adam) so the fact that people could literally pop their head under our roof and over our bedroom wall regardless of our locked door was soon forgotten. Showers were also only taken in the dead of the night to avoid any peeping Tom's.

After dropping our bags I decided the next best thing to do was to sit my ass down on a sun lounger with a book and relax. Adam however had other ideas. First he wanted "us" to go for a swim so I paddled into the freezing cold murky waters before I decided 5 feet was far enough and ran for warmth. He trudged on as he had his eyes set on a desert island ahead, but he managed to spook himself out about half way and then turned back. His next plan involved the use of the kayaks however that was soon squashed after the beach bar owner told him they could only be used by executive guests - as if the hut wasn't an insult enough now beach toys were on lock down. His natural reaction was to throw a strop and dig the biggest hole he could, possibly to bury the manager in possibly to hide the kayaks in I'll never really know, but it ended up being used as a bed by him instead. A cheeky 5minute nap later and my stroppy companion decided it was time for beach volleyball, catch and football. I was quite glad when he was summoned to play football with the rest of the men as it meant I could have a read of the guidebook and plan our next trip.

That evening we were served a buffet of BBQ food including chicken, pork and naturally a healthy serving of rice. We then spotted a pool table and decided to try our luck against Katie and Antje whilst sipping on the local beer, bia hoi, before pulling out the skip-bo cards once more. It's amazing how competitive a game of German UNO can get after 2 cans of beer. With one victory and one defeat under our belts we retired to our little slice of heaven for a night under the stars (quite literally in the corners). As the familiar sound of rain started to fall we slid under the covers and prayed that the shack wouldn't fall apart.

The alarm went off at 6am and we dragged ourselves to the dinning area for one last breakfast. Having swallowed 8 fried eggs again (Adam) and 2 pieces of toast (me) we made our way back to the boat. Today was simply a day of travelling so my backpacker trousers came out (girls I urge you to buy a pair in Bangkok if you visit they are soooo comfy even if they make you look like a hippy) and my pillow was unpacked. Bring on the DVDs and snacks.

If you are considering visiting Halong Bay and doing a tour I would suggest that you don't book with your hotel as apparently you can get better deals from tour operators and whilst you think your hotel won't screw you over I have heard stories over the last few days where they have. Make sure you check out the weather before you go because it did put a little downer on things, especially at the beach. Be prepared to eat a lot of deep fried food and if you are vegetarian I hope you like egg and peanuts because that's your breakfast, lunch and dinner. You may strike gold and get a cheeky plate of tofu. Don't go for the cheapest tour but equally don't go for the most expensive one as they all appear to offer the same package and the boats didn't look any different but you want to be careful just in case. Our tour for 3 days 2 nights on a bungalow cost us $108 each which seemed average but our German friends scored a nicer bungalow for $120 each. We were advised to smuggle drinks onto the boat and the bungalow and it was a good shout as the drinks were more expensive than the local shop and if your travelling on a budget every little helps. I had a great time in the trip but if your time in Vietnam is limited then soak up the atmosphere in Hanoi instead.

xxx