Once we arrived in Halong Bay, we loaded our junk (the very misleading name of the boats here - it was absolutely gorgeous!) and settled into our rooms below deck. I'm generally not one for a cruise-type holiday but if they're anything like our overnight trip, I'm definitely the newest candidate for shuffleboard! On the top deck were deck chairs to lay out on and soak up the sun; the main deck a wicker-world dining room and viewing platform at the back of the boat (you could dangle your legs off the back!) and the lower deck a row of cabins with large beds and air conditioning - luxury in the midst of natural beauty - all was right with the world!
The row of tour junks lined up against the shore
Tracey in the dining room
Me enjoying a rest at the back of the boat
Our journey began with a navigation out of the boat choked harbour and into the wild green yonder, islands looming large all around us.
Then we were soon called to lunch, a feast of seafood where even I found something to enjoy and then off to the beach for a swim! Could life get any better?
After drying off upstairs on the sundeck, we then headed off to Sung Sat cave, a beautiful hollowed out shell of an island, full of staglamites and staligtites, reaching from floor to ceiling. As with most things in Vietnam, no words can do justice to the beauty.
After trekking through the cave (great exercise - a good 400 stairs at least!) we headed back ot the boat to settle in for the night. Amazingly, even in the peaceful setting of Halong Bay, shopping managed to find us; women rowing up to the large junk in tiny rowboats selling oreos, pringles, and all other manner of Western foods your heart might desire. Although hanging off the back of the junk doing grocery shopping seemed quite entertaining at first, as more and more of those floating stores surrounded us with women desperately calling how "You buy? You buy?" it became clear how much they were relying on people like us for their livelihood and the reality of their poverty became too much for me...
After such a busy day of beautiful sites and laying in the sun, it was early to bed, for what turned out to be the most peaceful sleep of the journey so far. It's amazing what fresh air and quiet surroundings will do for you! The next day came bright and early, but sadly with none of the sun of the previous day. Still, even in the midst of rain and cloud, the looming islands remained simply breathtaking.
After a hearty breakfast (where once again bananas flowed freely - I LOVE this place!) we headed off to Cat Bay island to drop off some passengers. Here resides the largest floating village in Vietnam, a raggedy-ann collection of shacks ambling along the water in bright colors of blue and green. Again, seeing the peacefulness of this community and its residents made me wonder at the sanity of our fast paced lives.
Then, sadly, it was time to make our way back to the Halong harbour but picking up some new passengers on the way, Milla was lucky enough to make a new friend.
Milla and Julie
Saying goodbye to the beautiful Bay, we climbed aboard our bus and headed back to Hanoi for another great evening in a city I've absolutely fallen in love with. By the time we'd dropped our bags back to our room, we decided some dinner was definitely in order and off we went again. Holidays have never felt so carefree!
But of course, all the mundane things of life don't just disappear with the holidays and we realised a clothes wash was very much in order. Now, sensible people would just suck up the $20 it would have cost to get our clothes washed by the hotel, but not us, no sir. Instead, Tracey and I decided to tackle the wash ourselves using shampoo and the spa bath. Result: questionably clean clothes but a whole lot of unexpected soapy fun!
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