I had been looking forward to going here ever since the first time I saw the place on television. It is also one of the few places that I simply had to go to when we went travelling so I am glad it was the last place as it turned out to be one of the best. We were both a bit worried about it though after the rest of our experiences so far in Vietnam, all of which have been tainted one way or another, thankfully though the only things I didnt like about it I can accept and ignore

So we left early enough anyway, about eight in the morning. The harbour where our boat would leave from is about four hours drive from Hanoi. We got there and the expected confusion of standing around while our tour guide went and bought our tickets and it seemed like he was going organising a boat too. We eventually got on board and to allay our fears the boat turned out to be lovely, no rats and no stink of diesel. The harbour sits quite a ways from the 2000 or so islands which make up Ha Long Bay, so it was about an hours cruising before we were in amongst the islands themselves. Its really an amazing place to see. The islands are all about the same height but they reach up from the sea in various shapes and sizes. At times you can look towards the horizon and see what looks like a mountain, a few hundred metres further on and you see gaps appearing between the hills and then all of a sudden they show their true selves as being seperate islands.

For the sake of information I will give out about the two things I didnt like. First of all the place was a bit crowded, not the boat now, the water. At one stage I counted about fifty boats in our vacinity. When we layed up for the night there were about thirty boats in the visual range of our boat. I was expecting it to be more isolated and magical, but instead it was like every tom d*** and harry had brought their caravan along and parked up in the best spots beside us. The other thing was our room was engine room adjacent, and the generator was on all night so those onboard who felt a little warm could have their air con on. It was far to pleasant a night to need air con but anyway I didnt get any sleep because of the noise (Regina of course did). Still, plenty of time for sleeping back home. So thats the bad stuff

The rest was all good. We took the small boat over to a cave that is set inside one of the islands (because it couldnt be set outside of it). The cave was massive, and I assume still is. There were lots of other tours going through it at the same time, on account of the thirty other boats in the area, but the gaps soon formed between each and it was ok again. Inside the caves there are lots of names and dates written by the French and the Vietnamese when they visited and lived in the caves respectively. The French wrote them when they first discovered the place, and the Vietnamese when they hid their during the war. There is running water inside the cave and a fairly pool for collecting drinking water. There are also lots of made up rock formations that supposedly look like various things, I only saw one properly and it was of a face... the rest were a massive stretch of the imagination. Once we finished up with the cave we took the small boat over to a floating village, of which there are about fifty or so in the bay, and rented some kayaks to splash around exploring the area. We took ours to a few caves and towards another village. Its really nice being down on the water with all these cliffs looming over you. Above us, and throughout the time there, eagles soared high above, circling around looking for tasty Irish girls. We got back to the boat at about five, time enough for a jump off the top of the boat and in for a swim, quite refreshing if the jump hadnt been about two storeys and the impact of the water like a kick in the head from a very quick elephant. The water was cold and a little dirty, but at least it was a decent wash for the lads!!!!

We had dinner on board, as with lunch it was mostly fish orientated and deep fried of course... tasty though and Regina even managed to sample (and like) the battered squid. Later that night we would try to catch some using bamboo fishing rods off the back of the boat. My luck was out again and we only had one squid even look at our spinners, we had no bait so I guess they knew better.

The next day, tomorrow from this blogs perspective, we got up early and had breakfast (not fish thank god). We then parted company with half of the group as they were doing a longer tour and we cruised back, via a floating village again, to the harbour. After a nice little wait by the side of the road for the van to turn up, which it did bearing the scars of a very recent crash (on the way down), we headed home to Hanoi. Very tired, a little hungry and very very excited to be on the long and winding road back home. This place has really tangled our nerves up in a heap with the traffic and beeping and general frenzied madness of the roads. Its really a rollercoaster of a country and I would say not for the fainted hearted, but thats not to put anyone off... its to be experienced for oneself I think.

This is possibly the last blog I will write. Hopefully I will put up pictures tomorrow back in Bangkok before we fly home. Maybe I will write a summary when I get there too. As for Vietnam, it is goodbye, I would think indefinately. It was probably my least favourite country, and that might have been simply because it was at the end and we are both very tired now, but somewhere has to be last so what can ya do. Anyway, thanks for reading so far, hope it was enjoyed.....

The End, nearly