The first time we ventured into the streets of Hanoi I honestly thought I was going to be killed.  The traffic and the noise is horrendous.  You are constantly on your game, trying desperately to not get run over, or more commonly, burnt by the exhaust pipes of the mopeds.  Next time round we were a little more seasoned but still it’s a nightmare.  We had another night at the Oriental Hotel (who were so happy to see us back they made me my very own Papaya Salad for breakfast because I liked it so much).  Just one night though as the next day we were to embark on your 3 day 2 night Halong Bay cruise.

I had been telling Nigel the whole trip that everything was one of the seven wonders of the natural world.  Apparently Haloing Bay actually is!  We were picked up from the hotel in the early morning and then a three hour bus trip to the harbour.  We stopped off so that we could (if we wanted) buy large ornate stone carvings of lions etc. for our front gate.  If you do buy them and you are from another country then you get your photo on the wall.  Good on you Steve and Beverly for buying a large stone dragon to be shipped back to Hamilton.

The boat was adorable.  Only 14 cabins with a small restaurant.  They feed you as soon as you get on the boat and then they set sail.  Wow wow wow!  Halong Bay is just stunning.  You could watch the scenery all day.  There are two different parts to the bay.  The Halong side and the Bai Tu Long side. The Halong side has over 600 ships every day all parked up in the same area.  The Bai Tu Long side has 34.  The Halong side also likes Karaoke whereas the Bai Tu Long side likes squid fishing.

The first night they gave us small fishing rods and turned on a huge light to attract the squid.  Needless to say we spent a good half an hour and saw absolutely nothing.  We had also teamed up with a really nice couple form Quebec who also though it was hilarious to be squid fishing in Vietnam.  We had a lot of laughs with those guys.

Next day the boat goes back to the harbour with the 2 day one night people and we got offloaded onto another day boat where we were taken out to a small inlet where we could go kayaking.  We kayaked right around the islands until we found a small beach.  We could then go swimming and look out for the jelly fish.  The day before one of the tourists had been badly stung by the jellyfish and so we were super careful.. Had a false alarm when a plastic bag drifted past at one point.  And there lies the issue with Halong Bay.  It’s polluted.  And it’ a shame because it’s actually one of the most beautiful natural locations I have ever seen.

We went back to the boat for more food and another go at squid fishing.  We had already decided that we would pretend that there were a million quid the night before (for the new passengers onboard.  But no more than 5 minutes after throwing in the line our friend from Canada had caught one through the body and was hurling it onto the ship.  The debacle of squid spurting ink and not really knowing what to do with the damn thing ensued.  Nigel very gallantly unhooked the squid while the staff went and got us a bucket.  As it turned out no one wanted the squid.  We tried to gift it to the staff but they weren’t keen. In the end we left it in the bucket… poor thing.

Back to Hanoi for one more night.  What an adventure our South East Asia trip has been.  So many sights, so many flavours and senses and an incredible experience.  We really loved it and will definitely be back.