The view this morning was unreal, like a dream of paradise. I was tired when i woke as it was at 07:15 but when i stepped out of the room and saw the view in front with me i felt so content with life and all the beauty in it. The limstone island stood tall and the contrast of the grey slate colour amongst the mossy green trees and bushes matched perfectly with the water. What a site to wake up to, just incredible.

We sat at the table with Rebecca, Martin, Agoos and Darryl although darryl was late as i think he needed a bit of a lie in after last night. On the table was a plate stacked high with toasted slices of bread there were a pile of hard fried eggs on a plate as well as a selection of butter, jam and laughing cow (which i only discovered when i had almost finished eating). It certainly filled us up along with a hot cup of vietnamese coffee; the nicest coffee i've ever had.

Doung told us our itinerary for today which includes a trip to an oyster farm, visit to a beach, cycling in a national park and ending up on Cat Ba island. We headed up to the sun deck as it will take us around 2 hours to get to Cat Ba national park so Darryl and i took advantage of the time and both rolled a joint to smoke. We're lucky to have good company on the boat except from an over weight Russian couple who are on their honeymoon.

Our first stop was at an oyster farm where we got off the boat and Doung told us about how pearls are created and there was a small room with moulds of different pearls. We continued outside where there was an oyster farm and Doung put his hand in and grabbed a big crayfish looking thing and held it up. Daniel also got a turn to hold it but i was too scared to. He then took us to a small wooden desk and he showed us how to open oysters and then got long tweezers to feel around for a pearl. There was one inside, and he said it was a good pearl. The oysters however looked disgusting like orange fhlem, just horrible. He opened another one and inside was another pearl but this one was a grey pearl, still just as beautiful.

He told us that pearls form when a bit of dirt gets inside the Oyster and so then the oyster coats the dirt in calcium and that is what a pearl is, pretty cool. We headed inside the gift shop, selling beautiful jewellery made with the pearls from the farm. I fell in love with the rings as they looked so luxurious and medieval but i didn't have anywhere near enough money, i think it was around $143. They also had earrings and necklaces as well as bracelets and pendants. If only i had enough money. We got back onto the boat to continue our journey.

We slowly pulled into the small beach, and it really was small i think they are all man made beaches as sand is so out of place in Halong Bay. Darryl told us last night that the story of how Halong Bay was created was that a mighty dragon came from the sky, landed in the water and was bashing it's tail around which created the bay with over 1,000 islands. Agoos then said that the islands were formed under the sea millions of years ago and that due to the movement of the tectonic plates they were pushed right up on the surface of the water, which is indeed a fact.

So, the boat pulled into the beach and they put a narrow wooden stick to step down onto with a long piece of bamboo to hold onto. The american "Adam" had given his barbie like wife his massive camera to take photos while they all jumped off the boat. It was me, the wife and Rebecca waiting on the beach and slowly easing ourselves into the cold water. The boat pulled away from the shore and one by one the men jumped off the boat.

After they had all jumped in around two or three times they swam up to the beach. Darryl said that Daniel hurt his back on the way down by smacking into the water. It was still too cold for me to swim but i got my bum and legs in, i'd rather be warm on my top half than damp and cold! Once the men had all swam to the beach, we began looking for pretty shells as the whole beach is covered with bits of coral and shells. It took me back to when i was a little girl in the isle of wight picking shells and making friends. We found some really nice ones so i took them back up to the boat with me.

Our next stop was Cat Ba National park where we would all be cycling around for about 5km. Me, Daniel and Darryl sat on the front of the boat and the water got quite choppy which made a fun ride. When we got off we each chose our own bikes; i went for one with a low saddle as i hate when my feet can barely touch the floor. The bikes were nothing special, just old, basic ones which didn't have a bell.

When we sat off it was a nice, smooth flat road beside a lake with the backdrop of stunning green mountains, it was such nice scenery and it felt nice to ride a bike again. Soon after we approached a massive, steep hill and considering i had trouble getting up a small slope earlier on there was no chance i was going up that. Thankfully, there was another route which starts downhill. I took this route with Darryl and another couple and it led us through a cave tunnel which was really dark and cool but felt nice to have a bit of a breeze. We continued to cycle along the same road when daniel appeared from nowhere and so we all cycled together through a small village where there were cute sleeping dogs and children playing.

The road led us to a set of bungalows where we sat down and had a beer. Darryl was teaching us some vietnamese while i puffed on a smoke swiping beads of sweat off my forehead. The others had gone off without us while we finished our beers so when we left we realised we may not have the same bikes. my one was still there luckily enough so we all mounted the saddles and rode back.

I was the slowest in the group as the slopes get the better of me, it felt like all the power in my legs had disappeared or if the saddle was too short. They said to stand up and peddle uphill but i'd rather dismount and walk up with the bicycle beside me. Darryl however always waited for me to catch up and we rode slowly while having a chat and admiring our surroundings. When we arrived back at the port, some of the others had gone for a dip in the sea but we didn't have enough time so got back onto the boat and headed to Cat Ba Island.

On the way we passed a few fishermen and just before the port were big floating villages, small shacked floating above the water with walkways running around them. There were so many boats and lots of women selling snacks such as pringles and oreos to sell to tour groups. The island didn't look very big at all and Doung said it's very safe. We got off and headed onto a bus to drop us off at our nights accommodation.

One couple were dropped to a tall, narrow looking hotel and then Darryl, Agoos and the American couple "barbie and ken as darryl refers them) were dropped to the bungalows on the beach, and to get there we had to drive up a very steep mountain and then back down again. Immediately we regretted not booking the bungalows as they are literally right on the beach.

Me, Daniel, Rebecca and Martin were then dropped off to our hotel. We passed a beach on the way full of locals splashing around having fun. When we checked in the place seemed empty. It's a nice hotel though right on the coast, minus the doorstep beach. We were given our keys and made vague arrangements with Doung to meet for dinner at 19:00 as he is also staying at the same hotel.

We all took the lift to the 5th floor but when we were passing the 3rd it seemed to stop and for a second i though we would be stuck there, i began to panic until finally the doors opened at level three so we all decided to get out and walk the next two floors. Our rooms were next to each other so we said bye and headed inside. It was really nice with a big balcony overlooking the bay with the mountains and all the boats. They gave us so many freebies in the bathroom as well as coffee and tea satchets!

We rolled a joint to smoke while sitting on the balcony admiring the view. We chilled there for a while until we went inside and watched some of the latest batman film. We got really hungry and couldn't wait till dinner so we showered and changed to head down the road to find a place to eat, specifically baguette. We ended up in a bar/ restaurant and ordered two tuna baguettes and chips to share. Which was really tasted as there was melted cheese on top. There are lots of cyclists around town dressed in the proper gear but it seems like such a difficult place to cycle as there are so many steep hills to get up, perfect to rent a motor however we decided against it.

After we ate we walked a little further up the road where we saw a man sat next to a cage of lizards and a barbecue, i think the creatures were his dinner and not just pets! We headed back as it was coming up to 19:00, we went back to the room for a while to chill out before heading downstairs with Rebecca and Martin to meet Doung for dinner.

There was no sign of Doung, infact, there was no sign of anyone really. In the big restaurant area was just one couple. There were buffet things laid out so we assumed it was a buffet until plates of food began to appear at our table. We were so full from the baguettes and so were a bit overwhelmed by the anount of food that was given to us. We had a plate of todu cooked in tomato which would have been nice, had it not been tofu. There were sauteed vegetables, spring rolls, rice and fried fish. So much food!

I ate as much as i could but couldn't manage much. Once we had all finished we headed outside for a cigarette. There are loads of places to rent those bikes with two saddles and some with even three saddles as well as places to rent motorbikes but we were all pretty tired we decided to head back up to the room to chill out. Me and Dan ended up watching a film on the tv while having a smoke and falling asleep.