We booked ourselves on an overnight boat trip to explore Halong bay which is a group of 2000 Limestone Islands. After a 3 hour coach trip we boarded our boat at the city of Halong which is a pretty ugly city formed in 1994. Our cabin was spacious with a modern ensuite. The staff were excellent and over the next two days we were spoilt with several course meals; the food was exceptional as was the service. We shared a long dining table with other holidays makers and travellers who were from Australia, Canada and America. Their ages ranged from about 27 to 60. On our first afternoon we visited a cave which up until quite recently was occupied by local people. The cave was enormous and took us a while to walk around. That same afternoon we climbed to the top of another island and despite the visibility being quite poor the views were still breathtaking! It was a little cold so rather than sit on the beach we all headed back to the boat. The following morning we all had a lesson on how to make spring rolls which we then ate with our lunch. We cruised in between the many islands and arrived back at halong city shortly after lunch. The only criticism of the tour was that the bay was overcrowded with boats and we even had to queue to walk around the cave and climb the steps. We both agreed however that this was a small compromise to see such stunning scenery!

We had hoped to travel to Hue but unfortunately we had to return to Hanoi to catch the train. There were a few hours to kill before boarding our overnight train so we decided to make the most of this time and go the the famous water puppet theatre. We had dinner in a restaurant we had eaten at on our first night. It looks pretty grim in decor but served the best eggplant claypot; it is also very cheap. Before the show started we stumbled across a sky bar overlooking the Hoan Kiem lake and the city, so we stopped for a quick drink. The water puppet theatre was not really our cup of tea but enjoyable all the same. Towards the end we both got the giggles as one of the puppets kept hitting himself on the head when playing the drum. Fortunately the show ended which saved us any embarrassment, as I think that we had not yet been noticed! Oh yes - the puppets had similar dance moves to our friend Sully!