Cruising - in the fog!

Halong bay - and fog
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Monday morning saw us responding to the alarm clock yet again.  In due course (eventually) we were picked up by the minibus for our overnight trip to Halong Bay.  This is about 180 km or 3 hours from Hanoi through some industrial areas and some nice countryside.  We met our companions for the trip - some Aussies, a German couple, a Swiss girl and a Spanish guy.

The scene at the Halong Bay harbour was quite amazing - how many tour boats can fit into one small harbour?  However we were shepherded onto our designated craft and with a bit of bumping and shoving between boats we were soon out on the water.  The fog was keeping visibility down a bit, but by the time we'd finished lunch we were able to see the limestone karst formations for which the bay is justly famous.  These are the southern continuation of the landscape we'd been impressed with in Yangshuo, China, but this time sticking up out of the sea.

More karst mountains for Keith!

Fresh water lake in an island
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The day was spent cruising with a highlight being a visit to one small island which has a beautiful lagoon inside, reached by a small cave.  We were also impressed by the smooth moves of the Spanish guy - by this stage he and the Swiss girl were a couple and had secured the only berth with a double bed !!!!!  (Keith was in awe of such skill in attracting women!!!)

After a visit to another much larger cave with stalacmites and stalagtites aplenty (and numerous photo opportunities of junks in the bay) we headed out into a quieter section of the bay to anchor for the evening and some swimming before dinner.  We'd thought the water would be too cold and had consequently left our bathers behind in Hanoi but the smooth Spanish macho man soon had all the males jumping off the top deck of the boat, Keith included in his jocks.  For those with strong stomachs, this can be viewed on videotape on our return!

Outside the limestone caves
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Being the wise elders of the tour group, we avoided sampling Vietnamese vodka until 2am and trying to sleep up on the top deck!  (Been there, done that.....)  We retired to our cabin, inserted the earplugs and had a great night's sleep.  We awoke to the boat crashing into another one (this seems to be easier than steering around them apparently).  We were in search of additional kayaks for members of our group to investigate the caves at closer quarters.  At this stage, Keith was regretting having declined the kayaking option as reports were that it was a great way to see the formations.

Keith takes the plunge
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A leisurely cruise back through the bay saw us arriving in Halong Harbour in time for the next group of happy holiday makers (many of whom seem to be Australians - are there any Australians left in Australia we are asking ourselves??) to board our boat for their own adventure.  We headed off by bus to a nearby island for a true Vietnamese lunch which was very very tasty.  We sampled everything as we weren't too sure what would happen at dinner time.

Arriving back in Hanoi around 4.15pm we had time to reorganise our suitcases and call a taxi to get out to the airport for our flight to Hue (central coast of Vietnam).  This time we tested out Vietnam Airlines and were pleased to find ourselves flying on a plane with jet engines.  Previous reports from another Australian couple had suggested that we might be talking propellors (Wendy doesn't really like flying all that much but usually draws the line at propellors!)