Most people who know me well know that I am petrified of motorbikes but it seems that in Vietnam there really is no alternative mode of transport and in Cat Ba Island that is particularly true. This explains how I found myself clinging to Gareth on the back of a motorbike as we toured around Cat Ba Island - after a while once I relaxed and opened my eyes again I must say the scenery was worth it. The whole area of Halong Bay is famous because of the beautiful limestone formations and islands that jut out of the land and sea covered in jungle vegetation throughout the bay. We zoomed past rice paddyfields and friendly locals on the motorbikes and had all the children and many of the adults stopping to stare at us, wave and scream Hello!

The tour around the bay on a boat was amazing, so serene and tranquil. The limestone islands jutting out of the sea in every imaginable shape and size are just breathtaking and the water is as smooth as a mirror. Kayaking about on the bay you could really appreciate the quiet and enjoy the scenery uninterrupted. There are lots of floating houses and fish raising pontoons dotted around the bay and some of them are huge with over a hundred families living on these little floating islands and farming fish below their houses.

We stopped at a huge cave system, and generally I'm very sceptical about caves - I mean it's a cave, seen one seen them all - right? Wrong! This cave was massive, with huge stalagmites and stalagtites dotted all over making some beautiful formations and with small bits of lights coming through cracks in the caves it was really something. We also stopped at Monkey Island where there were a couple of pretty tame monkeys running around, all a bit touristy as they were feeding out of peoples hands, but there was a mother with her wee baby strapped to her front which was quite cool.