Up at the crack of dawn for breakfast in our hotel; "hold the full English and just an omelette for us this morning", followed by a bus ride to Ha Long Bay. 4 hours of pot holes, dusty roads, and the bus overtaking a lorry overtaking a car over taking a water buffalo we arrive in Ha Long City.
The sun is definitely with us this week; a hazy mid 30's from 8am to 8pm :)
At the dock, we hop onto a small boat that gets us to our junk (big boat), of which is home for the next few days, named 'The Luxury Imperial Cruise!'
Ok, so it's not quite luxury but it is very nice for Vietnamese standards! We (Siobh) had our doubts about what we might end up with as we have heard a few horror stories.
We check into our cabin; ocean view, double AND a single bed (claimed as Siobhan's wardrobe!) and a nice big bathroom with separate shower.
Up to the dining room for welcome drinks and fruit. Lunch was served while cruising out through the thousands of limestone formations in the bay. The food was really good, tasty traditional local food.
That afternoon we hiked through a cave and got to kayak around some of the limestone islands while the sun was setting. It was amazing!!
Back to the boat for wine and fruit and then more great local food for dinner.
Dinner was finished with a dish of fruit and a side of karaoke! Needless to say,
this was the one activity we did not partake in.
Jet-lag meant an early night for us around 9:30pm.
Happy days!!!!!