An early breakfast and pick up from the hotel and we were on our way to Halong bay.
The bus was comfortable but the roads were bumpy. The journey was 4 hours with a stop halfway at a place that made sculptures from marble and also had disabled people doing painting, tapestry and other crafts. They were so talented and seemed happy in their work 😍😍

Finally we arrived at a very busy port. There were so many boats and people waiting to board. We were in a group of 18 people and had a mix of nationalities. Our tour guide was Linda, she guided us with precision and great timekeeping 😂😂 Linda also explained that Halong means ‘descending dragon’ and that in a mythical story the dragon descended into the bay making all the rocky islands appear.
A small boat took us out to our cruise boat and we checked in to our cabin before lunch was served. The food was amazing and dish after dish just kept appearing on our table 😀😀 Local fish, squid, pork, chicken, rice and noodles. It was gorgeous.

After lunch we visited Ti Top island, here there was a small beach and hundreds of steps up to a viewing area at the highest point to take photos of Halong bay.

There were many boats and it was very busy. Even in the misty weather it was beautiful. We didn’t swim but had a little paddle. Andy took some photos for a group (I think from Thailand) then they all wanted photos with us!! It was so funny 😂😂

We then sailed to Hang Sung Sot (Amazing Cave) where we had hundreds of steps once again to visit the cave. It was worth it though. Once Halong Bay was made a UNESCO site the government opened the cave to the public and I’m pleased they did.

It was then back to our boat for wine & fruit at a sunset party!! The problem was that the sun was missing 😂😟 Dinner was great and with our table of new friends we chatted away the evening. We had a little squid fishing session off the back of the boat but there was so much squealing when the first one was caught I think it scared the rest away 😂😂

As most people know we love being on boats and we had the best nights sleep of the trip so far.
Breakfast was at 7:15am followed by a visit to a pearl farm, with a very interesting tour and an opportunity to buy 😍 Well it would have been rude not to wouldn’t it?

Then kayaking around the pearl farm area was good fun although I was paddling as Andy was taking photos (Surprise surprise!!)
We checked out on the boat and transferred to a smaller day boat, cruising around Halong Bay and heading towards Monkey Island. After lunch we went onto the island and met the monkeys, cheeky little things they were too.

We then sailed through a fishing village. The children go to school on Cat Ba Island by boat, a 45min journey. They live such a simple life, living and working on their floating homes with no running water or electricity.

Next stop Cat Ba Island where we were staying for our second night on this tour. We checked into our hotel. The Gieng Ngoc Hotel, our room was looking a little tired but extremely clean, had a large balcony overlooking the bay, air conditioning and wifi.

We wandered around the bay. It was a busy area with lots of fishing boats around. We were once again amazed by the Vietnamese way of life. Children looking around 10 to 12 years old were on scooters everywhere (by scooter I mean, one like we drive on the road such as a Vespa!!) they even had passengers 🤣😬
The next morning we took the day boat back to our original boat. Meeting back up with everyone again was good.

We watched a demonstration and then made our own spring rolls and they were scrumptious 😀  Followed by another great lunch before disembarking for our return coach journey to Hanoi and the Hanoi Old Town Palace Hotel once more.

We had 3 days / 2 nights on this tour and it had been packed with activities, sights to see, lots of food and new friends. One night at the hotel and another adventure awaits. A trip to Sapa 😍

Until next time, bye for now.

Carol & Andy