Ha Long Bay

In the middle of our studies we have something called study-week which basicly means a lecture free week, and a lot of travelling. Me and my girlfriend decided to take the train from Da Nang to Hanoi and relax a couple of days before we met up with some friends and went to Hal Long Bay.

We payd 50 USD for our ticket to Ha Long Bay. The ticket included food, admission, transport, one night at the boat and one night at Cat Ba island. Sunny weather was NOT included. When we arived at the dock the whole of Ha Long Bay was covered in fog. But we had already paid for the trip so we where going on the boat no mather what.

First we went to one of the many caves in the bay. All the islands is made up of limestone, so the water carves out beutiful caves and formations of the stone. The cave was somewhat tourist infected though. The cave ground was covered with bricks, stairs had been buildt, the ceiling was covered in some sort of cement ( reminded me about the stuff used inside tunnels) and everything was luminated by colorfull lights. But stil in was impressingly big and worth the short stair climbing to get up there.

Later we went kayaking. The kayak was somewhat unstable and we almost tipped over sevral times before whe got the hang of it. We went trough a rather smal cave wich led to a bay on the other side. On our way into the cave we of course ran into a speed boat wich almost tipped us over. On the other side of the cave there was suprisingly a little shop. The lady in the boat sold cigarettes, wine, beer, chocolate and anything else hyou could think of. I also went for a short swim, but the water was very dirty and smelly.

After al the kayaking, swimming and tipping over it was finaly time for dinner, dellicious seafood. After dinner we drank loads of overprizes beer and went to sleep. Tomorrow we go tracking.

The next morning we went to Cat Ba island to do some tracking and sleep in a hotel bed. The road to the top of the montain was loooong and steep, and in 30 degrees the sweat was pouring out of me. But when we finaly got to the top the view was breathtaking. The way down was nice, but a bit slippery.

After the trecking it was nice to find a good and soft bed, I thought I could finaly get som rest, but no. The guide announced during the lunch that we where goint to visit Monkey Island in 20 minutes. Spite what the name idicates monkey island is not crawling with hundreds of monkies ( like i thought). There are only 14 monkies living on the island, and if you are lucky you might just see one. Also here we went for a short trecking/climbing trip to the top of the island. After an hour or two we went back to Cat Ba for dinner and rest.

The last day in Ha Long Bay the weather cleared up and we got to see Ha Long Bay in all its glory. I wish we had a couple of days more to see more of the bay,but maby next time. No I was soon finaly going home to Hoi An and my own bed.