With most trips in Asia the start of today's trip was no exception. A free pick up is offered from the hostel. This generally means that once we are picked up from our spot we proceed to drive around the town stopping every five metres to pick up the next group. Asian logic eh?! Why not just walk to one meeting place, the Main Street is only 200m long. However, it is normally a great chance to meet people at the start of the day as everybody is generally squashed together in close quarters in a minivan for an hour.

What a day for this trip, the sun was out but the air still quite cool. Everyone that was on Cat Ba Island was hesitant when booking the Ha Long bay boat trip because of rumours that it would rain or be foggy. The ultimate fear was not being able to see arguably the most beautiful scenery in Asia in all of its glory. This was not the case today as it truly grabbed our expectations by the nuts, ripped them clean off and threw them into the horizon. The first part of the day was a steady cruise through Lan Ha Bay to Halong Bay. The whole boat sat in the silence of the beauty for about an hour until it was broken by the hippy Americans who were onboard. The conversation of the 'sharers' (people who talk unnecessarily loud on purpose so everybody can hear) went into the topic of why and how long she hadn't shaved her legs for. The full top deck glanced at the wool mammoths legs as she continued to carry out elaborate yoga stretches revealing more than enough. At risk of the weather changing the cameras were on fire as we snapped happy to get the classic Ha Long Bay photo but within minutes we had succeeded. This is because the scenery is consistent and endless. It gave us chance to just stare at it.

Once the group had regained the ability to talk, the boat had a great atmosphere as everybody shared the stories of NAM. The hippy American girls were actually quite nice. Kayaking through Ha Long Bay was incredible and we got to show off our well practiced technique as we purposely raced ahead of the group, navigating through the tunnels and caves, around the islands and across the deep jade water in order to get the first glimpse of the untouched magic. On return to the boat we got the chance to jump and dive into the sea from the top of the boat which at such peaceful depths was even enjoyable for us. You just had to ignore the fuel that the boat was leaking and leaving a shimmering spectrum on the surface. Ooooops. After lunch the boat set sail for Monkey Island but by this time the beers were flowing and everyone was so laid back that a trek up a mountain being harassed by monkeys that have being introduced for tourism was off the cards. We just opted for swaying in the shallows until it was time for the sunset sail back.

For the majority of the day we had been chatting with Craig and Melissa, two scientists from Canada who were a laugh. As like minded as us, such a day called for happy hour that a bar near the hostel offered. We then moved on for street food when our stomachs called for it and beer pong. This jam packed day saw us returning at 1am still in swimwear as we never made it back to get changed.

M & C xxxx