Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

The day has finally come for our ' Ha Long Bay' cruise. We're all so excited. After spending four hours in a minivan, when we finally reached the port, our guide ' Can' informed us that there was going to be a storm that night, which meant all boats had to be back by 6pm that evening. So there goes our overnight stay in the middle of Ha Long Bay, and no sunrise! As Kathrin would say, 'That's so sad!' We all found it a bit suspicious, but what could we do! When we finally saw our boat we laughed as it wasn't in the best of shapes, but it was nice and comfortable though. After sailing through the bay, we reached our first stop, 'Ha Long Cave.' It was pretty impressive with coloured lights everywhere. It reminded me of my old geography teacher Mr McMorrow! It was definitely worth a visit. From there we continued our cruise, later stopping for a bit of kayaking. Myself and Kathrin decided to get one together and adventure through the UNESCO site. The cliffs are stunning but the water is filthy, so sad considering how beautiful the area is. Unfortunately, the Asians don't care to much for the environment. However, we still enjoyed it. Getting out of the kayak, I nearly fell into the water. It kept everyone amused, which is always a good thing. The next and final stop that day was to 'Cat Ba Island.' This was where we were going to spend our first night. The room we got was nice, and it had only been done up. An hour later, the power went and it stayed like that for most of the evening. Without power, there's no A/C which means a night of hell, well for those that can't sleep. But before all that, it was time for dinner at a floating restaurant. Where else can you get sea sick without a boat? We all enjoyed the food and unfortunately, myself and Jason's tenure as Vegetarians had come to an end. However I did have to force him to eat a piece of seafood, but in the end, he really enjoyed it! After enjoying the banter of everyone, we couldn't call it a night especially considering we were all in different guesthouses, so most of us went to a nice bar where the chit chat could continue. I even got a cocktail called the 'Godfather' which consisted of whiskey, coke and amaretto. The best part was that I got a second one free. Happy snappy days! The following morning we had to get up really early so we could catch a boat to our final destination 'Monkey Island.' When we finally got there, we were really impressed with the whole resort. Our room was lovely and comfortable and we even had lovely views of the sea from our balcony. Happy days! We couldn't do very much as it was pouring down, but later on it managed to ease somewhat so myself and Jason were able to go kayaking around the bay, which was really nice. After a bit of exploring it was time to return and get ready for an amazing buffet dinner. And amazing it was! They even had different types of seafood cooking on the BBQ. The mussels they had were amazing. Everyone in the group were really nice. There was even a man who was originally from Vietnam but moved to the U.S.A. who hadn't returned for 63 years. Such a long time to wait to see your birthplace! We all managed to stuff our faces with some tasty food. From there we all went up to the Karaoke bar which we had to climb up to. It wasn't too far, thank God! Jason, 'The Karaoke King' had a bit of competition from an Aussie. Of course, it was too early to tell who would be the victorious man of the night. Jason and Kathrin even did 'Barbie Girl' together. It wasn't their best performance, but it was only a bit of harmless fun! The staff even got involved with one guy singing his heart out to Westlife! At the end of the night, everyone got up and danced to some dodgy Vietnamese music. I'm sure if you were Vietnamese, it was nice! We all had a really good night. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and it was time to hit the hay! The room was really nice and the beds were so comfortable. We wished we were staying for more than one night! The good thing was that a nice breakfast awaited us and then it was time to say goodbye to the island and jump on a boat destined for Ha Long Bay. Unfortunately for us, the boat had to come back early as there was an electrical fire on board. So it was goodbye to Ha Long Bay and to my stalker who kept on following me everywhere. Apparently she likes tall men and you don't get taller than me! We will have to return and do a luxury cruise here. Hopefully when we do return, the place is better looked after! But it is one place I want to see again, especially to experience a sunrise on the bay!

By Andrew

#unesco #cave #island