Halong Bay

I've not been feeling too good today... what ever the temperature was outside last night, it was the same in our room thanks to the gaps in our balcony doors. At about 5:30am, I woke up only half under the duvet. I could feel the cold in my bones! Bring on the sun of Phuket.

We got up early this morning to get ready for our day trip to Halong Bay. The bus picked us up at about 8:15am, and after touring around the other hotels in the area to collect more tourists we were on our way. We arrived at about 12:30pm to Halong Harbourwhich was full of traditional looking 'Junk' boats.  The scenery in Halong Bay was similar to Tam Coc with the giant limestone mountains jutting vertically out of the sea, but even more magnificent, with it's 2000 islands.

We stopped at a small platform made from wood and floating barrels, that was selling various fish and even horse shoe crabs. After a quick visit there, we hopped back on the boat for a traditonal Vietnamese lunch... Rice, veg, squid, fish and soy sauce. Luckily I've learnt how to use chop sticks because they didn't have any forks! In true Vietnamese style, the locals have devised a way to get to the tourists out on the boats around the bay to try and sell them things. Generally it is a family on a smaller faster boat, that will come next to your boat, and the wife or children will jump on board like a pirate and try to sell you fruit (a.k.a Fruit Pirates!). The kids have no fear of the water what so ever, this tiny girl that was probably about 7 years old, jumped with her hands filled with fruit from one boat to ours (while moving!) and walked along the edge of the barrier which are designed to stop people falling in the water.

 Next stop, another small floating shack and the chance to get on a smaller boat through a couple of small caves that are cut off at high tide.

Our last stop before heading back to the harbour was some caves. This time, they were not in water, but higher up in the cliffs. It's about a 20 minute walk through the main cave which is illuminated with coloured lights, leading to a look out over one of the bays.