Hello! We have had a very adventurous last couple of days staying on Cat Ba Island, the largest island in the magical Ha Long Bay.

Our trip here from Hanoi was relatively easy. We took two buses and a boat and arrived just after sunset, checking into a little family run hotel opposite the pier for $8 a night. On our first full day we rented a scooter and set about exploring the island. The roads, for the most part, were surprisingly smooth and only once did we have to stop and push to prevent the bike getting bogged down. We did a wide loop around half the island passing many small villages, deserted beaches, and some kind of water farms that could have been rice paddys. The vast majority of the island, which we think is similar in size to Jersey, is completely wild and unspoilt due to its designation as a national park and the limited number of inhabitants (about 10,000). It is very striking in many places. In the afternoon we scootered to a beautiful beach and spent a few hours swimming, sunbathing and watching a local football game. That night, whilst in a restaurant, Simon was approached by a man who started giving him a massage. It was all very weird, especially when he started massaging Simon's eyelids!

The next day we went on a tour sailing around Lan Ha and Ha Long Bays. The individual peaks that rise out of the water are stunning and quite similar to the landscape that we saw in Yangshuo. We spent a couple of hours boating around the bays before we were given kayaks to go and explore on our own. This allowed us to adventure in caves and under natural arches in the rocks to find our own little coves. After lunch we were taken to "Monkey Island". This was quite an experience. We were a little uncertain about going there in the first place after hearing tales of people getting bitten by vicious monkeys carrying rabies, so we ventured onto the island somewhat uncertainly. Sure enough, after being there about 20 minutes, the old French man climbing down the rock face right in front of us was bitten after teasing the monkeys with biscuits. This was quite enough for us and we climbed back down to the beach where Simon had a swim in the bay. Two of the most memorable parts of the day, however, had little to do with our beautiful location. First, a portly Austrailian woman cracked through the bench she was sitting on on the boat and everyone tried desperately to look concerned whilst hiding their laughter. This was followed by an even larger German woman falling into the sea whilst attempting to climb back into her boat at Monley Island. Here, the laughter could not be contained! All in all, a very memorable day, despite our boat breaking down on the way back, leaving us stranded on Monkey Island for a while.

Whilst we have been staying here the food has been truly excellent! Pretty much any sort of seafood is on offer and the fish is some of the best we have ever tasted.

We are about to head back to Hanoi before flying halfway down the country to Hue. We will update again soon.