Halong bay | House of Wendy travels...

The sun was shining when we reached Cat Ba island and the morning was to be spent in the National Park; nice and relaxing, or so I thought. What is it with tour companies who think tourists like to trek? Or is it only me who prefers the slower side of life?

This mornings mission to get to the top of this mountain…

So, up some steps, up some more steps, up even more steps… By this time the rest of the group who were somewhat younger than me and in the proper foot attire (at least this time I had sandals on, a wee bit better than flip flops), bypassed me, but I soldered on. I met a group coming down, ‘you’re nearly there’, I think I looked like i needed the encouragement! The final push I thought, I can do more steps… Alas not, the steps dissolved to be replaced by rocks! When does a wander up a mountain turn into rock climbing? Not to worry, the rocks were surmounted and I reached the top 🙂 ‘so, was it worth the effort Wendy?’ I was asked

‘no!’ I really am not an outdoor kind of gal, am I?

After lunch I headed from Cat Ba to Monkey island to stay in a beach hut. How cute?

Given the mornings exertions I declined on the kayaking to see the monkeys, but chilled on the beach watching the sunset.

I have dying to use this title for a blog post and today is the day. Day two, on a three day trip to Ha Long Bay. I’m sat on the top deck, just cruising through the karst islands (on the Fantasea boat cruiser). To say its beautiful is an understatement, I just don’t know what direction to look, each view is mouth watering. I sincerely hope my pix do it justice.

Day one involved a four hour bus journey which was really interesting. As we left Ha Noi we headed east, greeted along the way by hawkers selling bread on what seemed like seven foot totem pools. We bypassed perfectly manicured patchwork rice and vegetable fields, some submerged under water. At work were a smattering of Vietnamese folks wearing the obligatory bamboo cone hats – it seems that they aren’t just for tourists to purchase, but part of the working uniform. Troops of water Buffalo were grazing, joined by a sprinkling of hens, now this was more like the vision of Vietnam I had in my head. However, I was amused to see that although we were out of the city, the obligatory Vietnamese mode of travel, motorbikes, were scurrying along the fields.

A quick transfer onto the boat and before we knew it, we were sailing through some of the 1,969 islands. Ha Long bay used to the trading centre of Vietnam and there was irony that the cargo ships of years ago have now been replaced by tourist boats. Apparently, annually, 6.8 million people head here and I can see why.

Following a few stop offs, including an exploration of Hang Sung Sot cave (it reminded me of Zion out of the Matrix films) and a meander up Ti Top island, the day was ended with twilight kayaking. Luckily I was paired up with an American gal who was more of an kayaking aficionado than I and we successfully navigated into the cave. A trip highlight!