Halong Bay

No trip to Hanoi would be complete without a visit to Halong bay.

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Hopped into a travel agency near the hotel and talked them down to 55 dollars for a 'deluxe' 2 day cruise on a 3 star ship. One other guy paid 80 dollars for exactly the same thing. Price tags are negotiable in most of Asia.

Quickly discovered that the 3 star boat was about 40 years old and hadn't seen a lick of paint in all that time... but it floated alright so can't complain.

Off we sail. Stunning scenery almost immediately, but for some reason we had to stay inside whenever we were pulling into or out of a port. A minor frustration which was nowhere near as irritating as our overly-talkative-without-saying-a-thing guide.

A boat in front of some rocks

Rocking up at one of the first islands we disembark and head into a cave which was only discovered in the 90s. Great limestone stalagmite / stalactite formations and fantastic timing - we were lucky enough to see the sun beaming through a hole in the cave roof - results below.

The Monkey Hole

It seems this cave was discovered by a sailor who spotted a monkey climbing into said light-hole.

Next stop is kayaking. The tour guide (who was starting to try everybody's patience by now) allowed us outside for all of 10 minutes before calling us back in to brief us on the kayaking.

In summary:
- 200 people on the island, latrines straight into the sea
- 'Human waste' in the water so be careful not to fall in
- Make sure your boat and oar is intact before heading out

Despite us expecting the worst on the human waste front, I have to say that I didn't encounter any 'floaters'. 200 people plopping in the ocean is no big deal.

Rowed through caves and found a secluded spot which reminded us of a scene from 'Porco Rosso' - the Studio Ghibli film. Sheer rock faces on all sides and nobody else around - one way in and one way out (discounting the parachute option).

Shadow looks like something from Mononoke Hime

Our own private lagoon

After kayaking we were allowed into our cabins - which were a pleasant surprise - every comfortable. Akane immediately made the most of the bed and I didn't see her again until after sun-down.

She literally fell over asleep; mid-fall photo

Things were a little more relaxed after this - sitting on the deck with a few beers while we sailed off to somewhere called 'Cat Ba Island'. After some of the passengers got off and went to their hotel it was playtime - 1 hour of swimming in the bay, diving off the decks (3m and 5m or thereabouts).

I promptly woke Akane up so should could GoPro a somersault-cum-face-flop. Not felt anything like that since the fairly regular occurrence which was being whacked in the face with a football at school.

Next front flip resulted in a ball-flop, which left me groaning. After that I stuck with straight up dives and backflips.

Cracked open a few beers to watch the sun go down. The boat would have levied a surcharge if we'd taken them onboard so 5 of us were practicing beer-drinking back-stroke with the occasional ingestion of brine. Thankfully no human waste here either.

Local convenience store

Swimming and beer is a challenging combination

The night was spent under the stars, talking with people from a multitude of backgrounds who all seemed to share surprisingly similar views of life and the meaning thereof. Interesting how travel draws people of similar inclinations together.

Thank god it wasn't Magaluf.

Slept like a log (driftwood?) and woke up to day number 2... which basically consisted of us high-tailing it back to the shore so they could pick up the next batch of paying customers. Just being on the boat surrounded by the stunning scenery is more than enough in a place like this - no need to fill time with superfluous activities.

Us in front of some rocks

In short, a great trip, and a good break from Hanoi.