Halong Bay

I took a 3 day tour on Halong Bay, north Vietnam, and it was lovely. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic, and everything ran like clockwork, the organization of the tours is pretty amazing. I'm still full from all the food they stuffed us with- its like being at your grandmas house, all the food they give you!

The first day we went on a lovely boat through the bay, there are beautiful limestone rock/islands everywhere. We stopped at one to go through a cave, and at another where the rest of the people climbed to the top, while I waited on the beach. We spent the night on the boat, I had a nice room to myself, nicer than some of the hotels I've stayed in! Went swimming off the boat in the late afternoon while the sun was starting to go down, perfect! The next day we spent on Cat Ba Island, where there is a national park. We went kayaking (Daddo, you would have loved it!) in the bay, it was great, the water is so calm and flat that its not difficult to steer. We went under a rock archway into a lagoon, where there were schools of tiny flying fish, very cool. The we took the boat to monkey island, where you guessed it, there were monkeys, and did some swimming as well. The next morning it was back on the junk to journey back to the mainland. Sat on the top of the boat and enjoyed the sun and view- absolutely beautiful! And it was kinda nice to be babied for a few days and not have to think about anything, though I'm glad to be off the guided tour , it was really scheduled and we were definitely overfed! But the price was unbelievable for everything you get, definitely recommend it.

Took the night train to Hue, where I have a lovely hotel with internet in my room, yippee! Gonna relax and walk around town today, take in some sites of the old city. Will probably post more soon!