HA LONG BAY

Our final organised trip and by far the best ever to Ha Long Bay, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

We were picked up by a mini bus a drove 4hrs to Ha Long Bay where we boarded our cruise boat. We were greeted with cold flannels and drinks and had rose petals falling on us as we walked on the boat :-) Our cabin was lovely as was the boat. We had a little welcome talk just before lunch - we sat out on the deck eating it whilst enjoying the magnificent views of the limestone islands that we were surrounded by.

We met a couple, Kathy and Ben, who were on their honeymoon and lived not far from where we lived in London. Kathy was a doctor and gave Mrs F anti-sickness tablets to ease her poorly belly, which worked wonderfully. After lunch, the four of us shared a punting boat and was taken to see the second biggest floating village. It was truly amazing to see how people are born and spend their whole lives living on the water, plus the stunning views........

Our home for the next two days.....

 Mr F with his welcome drink.......

Our cabin quarters......

View from Our room...

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Having lunch.....

Just some of the amazing views we saw from the boat.....

Up on the top deck.....

 

Our punting boat trip to the floating village....

Mr & Mrs F with Kathy and Ben.....

Our punter!....

After seeing the floating village, we had the option of kayaking around the islands or jumping off the boat for a swim. We chose to kayak - we set off just the two of us with our life jackets and went around one of the limestone islands nearby the boat. It started to rain around 30mins into it, so we paddled back to the boat. We both really enjoyed our first kayaking experience, especially where we were. Couldn't take the camera unfortunately incase it got as wet as we did!

Once back on the boat, we freshened up and met Kathy and Ben in the dinning area where we had happy hour just before dinner - 'buy one get one free' on all drinks, so we loaded up on red wine to drink with our delicious 5 course dinner.  You could also watch a cooking demonstration and eat the freshly made spring rolls. We had a lovely evening with Kathy and Ben and finished it off with a bit of night fishing. You could also watch a film that was showing if you didn't want to fish. Mr & Mrs F caught 2 little fish each and Mr nearly caught a squid. It was good fun :-)

Our second day we had a light breakfast at 7am (much to Mrs F delight!) then headed over to The Surprise Cave. It was spectacular, lots of different rock formations which had an artificial coloured lights shinning on them to make it look all more amazing......

After the cave we went back to the boat for our second breakfast which was a cooked one. Shortly after, we were back at the dock we said our good-byes to Kathy and Ben and then back on the mini bus for our 4hr drive back to Ha Noi for our last night in Vietnam......and south-east Asia.

VERDICT OF HA NOI:
Mr F: Not quite as crazy as HCMC, good place to spend some time. The old quarter is mad busy with traffic, but we are professionals at crossing the road!

Mrs F: My favourite place in Vietnam. Loved all the little streets with many variety of stalls and markets. Much more of a touristy place than other places we've been to in Nam. Unfortunately I wasn't well for most of our stay here, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

VERDICT OF HA LONG BAY:
MR F: All the books say everyone should see this place....and they are not wrong! A truly stunning place i will never forget.

Mrs F: Absolutely loved Ha Long Bay. Very blessed to see one of the natural wonders of the world....another one of Gods amazing creations! Glad we were able to see this and experience this once in a lifetime opportunity and to do the activities that went with it.