Halong Bay & Cat Ba Island 7th January 2006 Another early morning to catch the bus at 7.30am to Halong Bay. There are 14 of us crammed into a minibus, but fortunately the journey was only 3 hours with a break in the middle (at a souvenir shop of course). We get to know some of the others in our group on the way. We also see several precariously loaded motorbikes, including one carrying what looked like a wardrobe and another carry several pigs (dead I think). We arrive at Halong City where we board our boat, a type of Junk boat, and set off to cruise around the thousands of Islands of Halong Bay. Although the weather is pretty chilly it isnt raining, so we get some excellent views. Halong Bay is basically made up of thousands of limestone islands jutting out of the water. Even on such a cold day the water was a lovely colour and the islands were still very green. Fortunately there wasnt much wind so we were able to sit on the top of the boat to appreciate the scenery going by. We have lunch which was excellent and consisted of a table full of spring rolls, squid, pork, rice and lots of vegetables - it was a good sign as all our meals were included on this trip. Our first stop was at some caves in one of the islands. The caves were apparently formed by the ocean and there were some massive caverns inside as well as one or two rude looking stalactites (the Vietnamese called it the banana, but it looked more like something else to us..) Next stop was a walk up hundreds of steps to a viewpoint at the top of another island. The views from there were fantastic, not sure our camera (and photography skills) could do it justice though. Get back to the boat and have a warm-up shower before meeting again for another fantastic dinner. Spend the evening getting to know our group (Christina from Scotland, Orla from Ireland, Preston and Jodie from Oz and Heike and Udo from Germany) and learning some new card games at the same time. We learned a******* and we taught them s***head - what great names we have for card games!! 8th January 2006 After a chilly night on the boat (only one blanket each and drafty as hell) we get up for breakfast. After the fantastic food we had had so far we were bitterly disappointed with breakfast - sliced white bread and meat paste. I stuck to the dry bread although Stu (as usual) made some sandwiches. We then head to Cat Ba island where we did a 3km trek up the mountain which including a bit of rock climbing. At the top there was a very high, and very wobbly, lookout tower. Amy chickened out from going up it but Stu made it to the top, though didnt stay for long before coming back down again! Finally make it to the bottom of the hill again after scrambling down more rocks and climbing down several wobbly ladders. I dont think the safety standards are quite the same as in the UK! (By the way, please excuse my grammar (Dad!). Every time I go to type an apostrophe I get an è or an È so I decided it was best not to bother at all) Next stop was at another cave that was used as a hospital by the Vietnamese army during the American war. We were shown around by a self-confessed crazy man who used to be a captain in the army. It was an interesting tour, but got a little crazy when he made us all salute him and he started singing Vietnamese songs to us in the dark and expected us to join in!! The cave was very impressive and even had room for a makeshift cinema and a small swimming pool (or large bath). We head to Cat Ba Town where we check into our hotel (we have a great view of the harbour) and tuck into some more great food. That afternoon we go out again on a boat to do a bit of kayaking. We arrive at a jetty in the middle of the islands which is basically loads of boards of wood nailed together in narrow walkways. In between the walkways are loads of huge fish in big nets. I concentrated very hard on not falling in. Stu and I set off in our double kayak trying to keep up with the guide. We kayak past several islands before entering a beautiful lagoon through a very low archway (only kayaks can get in). We kayaked over to the corner where we were ordered out of our kayaks and then told to scramble up the side of the cliff. I refrained as I was only wearing slippery wet flip flops. Apparently at the top you could see another lagoon that was completely enclosed. Shame we missed it, but also glad that my feet werent mashed either. We then head back to the jetty where we started and get back safely to the boat. Back to the hotel for a hot shower and another great dinner. Pretty knackered after all the exercise so we just have the one beer in the pub and several games of table football (Stu wins, of course). Have a great nights sleep. 9th January 2006 Breakfast was fortunately an improvement on the previous day. We are collected at 8.20am and taken back to the boat for a cruise back to Halong City. More card games on the boat and then our final meal of the trip at a hotel in town. Manage to get a bit more sleep on the minibus back to Hanoi. We arrive back in Hanoi in time to get on the internet and have a meal before our mammoth bus trip to Vientiane, Laos. All will be revealed in the next installment... Lots of love, Stu & Amy