We woke up nice and early and went for breakfast, after which we had arranged to meet our tour guide in reception at 9 am. We then headed out out of Hanoi.
The three hour drive to Ha Long Bay passed quickly amongst lots of paddy fields, where they grow rice and views of children finishing school for the day. We learnt that children in Vietnam go to school from 7am till 11am !
We stopped on the way to Ha Long Bay at a local pottery and textiles factory were we had a welcome cup of coffee and a little break before jumping back on the mini bus for the other half of the journey.
When we arrived at Ha Long Bay we embarked on a boat for a trip around the Bay which gave us a chance to explore this beautiful bay -- the scenery was breath-taking !!! The boat stopped off at Thien cung, which is a name of a huge natural cave where famously some of the rocks look like dragons breathing fire- which they did !! Amazing !!. Then back to the boat where we were served a seafood lunch. (I must admit to you I am normally not someone who eats fish very often, but, that the Vietnamese people put so much effort and time into preparing the food it was rude not to try to eat it.. and I surprised myself !! I actually came to begin liking it by the second day of being there)
The views when eating were absolutely beautiful .. with a panorama of over 3,000 limestone islands. The limestone formations are littered with beaches, grottoes and beautiful caves.
Whilst we were eating a small boat pulled up a alongside and a child jumped onto the boat andbegin trying to sell fruit to us, (this happens to most boats out on the bay some of the local people live on their boats and this was how they made a living.)
After lunch we sat up on the deck taking in the amazing views, it was very hot that day and there was a slight mist so was unable to get clear photos of the bay which I was quite upset about. After about 3 hours on the boat we headed back to shore, I decided to buy a Vietnamese hat as I had said how much I liked them from the day I arrived! After I bought my hat we all climbed back into the minibus for the long journey back to Hanoi.
I loved driving through all the villages the Vietnamese people are always on the go or sitting out the front of the shops with the young children playing on the pavements. They use scooters and cycle bikes to get around and you can sometimes see a whole family piled precariously on the back of one of them.
When we got to the city we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Sen Tay Ho. It was a superb restaurant which served a range of food from Vietnamese to western food with traditional Vietnamese music being played live throughout the meal. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and went up to our rooms to make sure our suitcases were ready as we were travelling on to Hue the following day.
Thought for the day: I am really enjoying the trip so far, we have been so busy and I have seen so much already... looking forward to tomorrow !!
The three hour drive to Ha Long Bay passed quickly amongst lots of paddy fields, where they grow rice and views of children finishing school for the day. We learnt that children in Vietnam go to school from 7am till 11am !
We stopped on the way to Ha Long Bay at a local pottery and textiles factory were we had a welcome cup of coffee and a little break before jumping back on the mini bus for the other half of the journey.
When we arrived at Ha Long Bay we embarked on a boat for a trip around the Bay which gave us a chance to explore this beautiful bay -- the scenery was breath-taking !!! The boat stopped off at Thien cung, which is a name of a huge natural cave where famously some of the rocks look like dragons breathing fire- which they did !! Amazing !!. Then back to the boat where we were served a seafood lunch. (I must admit to you I am normally not someone who eats fish very often, but, that the Vietnamese people put so much effort and time into preparing the food it was rude not to try to eat it.. and I surprised myself !! I actually came to begin liking it by the second day of being there)
The views when eating were absolutely beautiful .. with a panorama of over 3,000 limestone islands. The limestone formations are littered with beaches, grottoes and beautiful caves.
Whilst we were eating a small boat pulled up a alongside and a child jumped onto the boat andbegin trying to sell fruit to us, (this happens to most boats out on the bay some of the local people live on their boats and this was how they made a living.)
After lunch we sat up on the deck taking in the amazing views, it was very hot that day and there was a slight mist so was unable to get clear photos of the bay which I was quite upset about. After about 3 hours on the boat we headed back to shore, I decided to buy a Vietnamese hat as I had said how much I liked them from the day I arrived! After I bought my hat we all climbed back into the minibus for the long journey back to Hanoi.
I loved driving through all the villages the Vietnamese people are always on the go or sitting out the front of the shops with the young children playing on the pavements. They use scooters and cycle bikes to get around and you can sometimes see a whole family piled precariously on the back of one of them.
When we got to the city we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Sen Tay Ho. It was a superb restaurant which served a range of food from Vietnamese to western food with traditional Vietnamese music being played live throughout the meal. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and went up to our rooms to make sure our suitcases were ready as we were travelling on to Hue the following day.
Thought for the day: I am really enjoying the trip so far, we have been so busy and I have seen so much already... looking forward to tomorrow !!