It shows that we have been travelling together for too long, as this musical title of the earworm of this part of the journey was brought to you by Troy, NOT Clare.

After much researching and deliberating, we decided to see Ha Long Bay (THE Vietnam sight) via a 3 day/2 night cruise with 1 night on the boat, and 1 night on Cat Ba Island. There are so many tour companies and boats operating variations of a Ha Long experience that it was almost impossible to decide what would be reliable, but in the end we felt that it all worked out okay! (Go in with low expectations, and hopefully you are pleasantly surprised!)

We lucked out with the weather as we had mostly clear skies, and also lucked out with a friendly group of tourists on our boat from Germany, England, and Italy. (Where are all the Canadians??) The sunset on the first night was spectacular and looking out at the shadowy limestone islands layer upon layer into the distance is quite magical. The second day we spent some time soaking up rays on Monkey Island, captivated by the swinging monkeys chatting and interacting with each other. We then sailed on to Cat Ba Island for our second night where we swam in the very warm sea, and relaxed in the cafes. Cat Ba is very mellow, and it would be great to go back and see more of the island, including their National Park. The next morning we sailed through a large fishing village and watched from the boat as locals went about their daily routines. It was fascinating to get a quick glimpse into what life on the bay looks like.

We loved Ha Long Bay, but it must be said that there was a terrible amount of garbage in several areas on this tour. It was incredibly disheartening. We don't know if the answer is more signs, more direct instructions from tour guides, or less boats (or all of the above), but it would such a shame for the situation to get any worse.