Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island

 

 

 Apologies for late update, last month has been a bit crazy, in China we had no access to most websites including this one. We are currently in Sydney so a lot has happened in between then and now!

 

So, onto Halong Bay. It is situated in the north of Vietnam, close to the Chinese border in the 'South China Sea'.

 

We took a bus up to the pier and boarded our boat for the few days along with a lovely English couple, 'Jeff from England' and a few German girls.

 

Given a key to our cabin to freshen up before lunch. So excited by it, the room was great, much better than we expected.

 

The bay was littered with boats similar to ours and more exclusive ones too.

 

Lunch was served and was a feast!! Tons of delicious Vietnamese food. Kimchi, Spring rolls, Tofu, fish, and a ton of rice!

 

After lunch we set off into Halong Bay along with all the other boats, it was like a mass exodus!

Our first stop was Sung Sot Cave which means 'Pretty' in Vietnamese. We have visited quite a lot of caves at this point so we weren't overly excited initially but it was an incredible cave and they've lit it up beautifully. There was a mound shaped like a turtle and it is a symbol of good luck for some and so was scattered with money and shiny from where people have rubbed it.

From this our guide told us that 75% of Vietnamese have no religion. If you are listed as religious you will not be hired for government positions!

 

After the caves we sailed over towards a lovely secluded cove. We kayaked here and attempted to feed monkeys lingering around for some bananas. It was not successful as Daniel threw the banana into the water as we were afraid to get too close. This caused some tensions amongst the monekys and they became a bit raucous. '''Reverse, Reverse!!!'

 

There was a small opening in a cave through to a stunning bay, we had it to ourselves at first which was lovely! We felt so serene, especially Daniel as I was doing all the paddling!!

 

Back to the boat for a shower and some dinner (again another feast!!!) We would dock here for the night, sleeping on the boat in the bay under the stars, how cool!!

 

Afterwards we were told we could squid fish! So us eejits (tourists!!!) jumped at the opportunity. We were handed a bamboo rod and our guide switched on a light into the water to attract the squid, he showed us the successful technique of bobbing the rod and off we went.

 

As he went back inside, we joked how him and the crew had bets on how long wed last trying to catch squid...that was never going to happen!

 

We put in a fair attempt and in the end Daniel and 'English Jeff' competed to catch leaves! Daniel won!

 

We then played a game called 'Dobble' we hadn't heard of it and so we were sceptical. We sat top deck  under some lights listening to the monkeys call (I thought they were whales, there was a whole thing 'Whale or Monkey?') 5 of us played, the Germans retired to their cabin!

Great game, you have to play it to appreciate it (we'll be getting it when were home!) We screamed and cursed our way through it! We had to call it around 11 as we were probably keeping everyone awake, including our monkey mates!

 

Up early the next morning for a tour of Titov Island (named after the Russian cosmonaut who, in 1961 boarded the spaceship Vostok 2 and became the second man to orbit the Earth, after fellow Russian Yuri Gagarin who beat him by just a few months.

Titov visited Halong Bay some months later in 1962 and toured the area with Vietnam’s revered leader Ho Chi Minh. Uncle Ho consulted with the people on the island and, in a gesture of friendship between Vietnam and Russia, named the island in honour of the brave cosmonaut. Gherman Titov returned to the island in 1997 for an emotional visit. In the visitors book of Halong Bay’s management, he wrote “Thanks that God gave me a chance to return to this island”

 

Tiny island with a small beach and a walk up to the tip for some breathtaking views! Daniel took a quick dip after!

 

Then on to Cat Ba Island for a trek to the peak. It was a gently enough climb up. Nice and shaded so its fresh enough. Views from the top were incredible, like a scene from 'Planet Earth'. Its protected in a national park. Kind of place youd love to Zipline through. Just forests for miles! Can imagine jumping and just landing softly on the cushiony treetops!

 

We then went to a town where we checked into our very lovely hotel room (a double bed each!!)

before we set off for Monkey Island. So odd here, they feed the monkeys cans of beer. One of them was staggering and had cut up his lips from the can :(

The island itself is beautiful and we lay on the sand taking it all in. Crystal clear water. Unlike beaches similar to it in Thailand it wasn't crowded with people.

You will see below a video of a mad Vietnamese man waving a jacket and shouting! This was hilarious. We were waiting for 3 Asian tourists so we could leave, we had been waiting an hour at this stage and the sun was starting to set so they were anxious to get back. As we waited we saw a man on the top of the island taking selfies! So the captain of the boat grabbed one of the girls jackets and called at him!

 

When they returned to the boat to death stares he ordered everyone a beer and we were all best friends!!

On the way back we passed through the 'floating village' incredible to see. Literally houses and shops, petrol stations all sitting on floating platforms in the middle of the sea (I accidentally deleted the photos but will get some!!!!)  

 

Returned to the hotel for dinner and got an early night. We left the next morning through Halong bay again back on the bus to Hanoi.

 

So glad we did the tour. Thoroughly enjoyable and a different flavour to Vietnam than we had expected.