Halong Bay.

Tuesday was up early- a great breakfast and view from our hotel and we were all loading up on to the bus and out of Hanoi. We were in the thick of rush hour and oh my word the scooters- never could I eve imagine so many in one town. Before long we were cruising through the rice fields, small towns and general countryside. We stopped at a huge roadies store- that wanted us to buy expensive silks, jewellery and locals fares. Back on the road and we were in Halong Bay by noon. It was a 3.5 hours drive. We were checked in for our cruise on the Bhaya 3 Cruise and sat back to await our 12:30 boarding. We boarded and were sung a wonderful hello by the crew which also came with rose petals from above! Our rooms were on the 1st floor or bottom of the boat. We were given the orientation and then had a few minutes to freshen up before we were served the most amazing lunch. There was all types of seafood, fresh salads, stews and of course pho. After lunch we had about an hour to relax and enjoy the stunning Halong bay – before we had our first excursion. At 2:15 we were paged to meet for our kayak trip to the local fishing village. We were life jacketed and sent out to the village. Danica and I were in one kayak and Delaney and Frank the other. We paddled around this floating fishing village – Cua Van Floating Village- marvelling at these people who live out here on the water all year round. What a great adventure. Back on the boat and we had some down time before happy hour at 5- for 2 for 1 drinks. We enjoyed the drinks on the deck as the sun set over the majestic lime stone formations all around us. The girls all learnt how to become master chefs at spring rolls and then dinner was served- another elaborate spread – this time a sit down set menu. Crab soup, coconut covered prawns, salad and a grilled sea bass to road off another magical day. The girls all tried their hand at squid fishing off the back of the boat before we retired to bed- a long, but amazing day done!