Halong Bay, 13th January 2023

Blimey Moses the bed was hard last night. I had a double room to myself, two double beds to boot, but the mattress is a thick sheet on top of wood boards :(
Still, it's cheap again (£7.00 per night) and I only have one more night here.
Just when I was falling out of love with travelling, and growing to actively dislike most things about Vietnam, I ended up at Halong Bay on the North East coast of Vietnam.
Open any guide book on Vietnam and this place comes up pretty often as one of the go-to's.
The boat tour of the famous bay started off in gloomy, misty conditions. It didn't bode well. However the photos looked moody and a tiny bit spooky. As the day went on the mist cleared and the sun jolly well came out with it's hat on.
We sailed around some of the rock formations in the bay, went kayaking or 'bamboo boating' around an enclosed lake through a hole in the rocks (photos) and explored a really impressive cave system. Lunch on the boat was damned good grub - as has been the case lately.
After sailing on a bit further, we had a hike up one of the bigger rocks to a viewing platform. This is the photo opportunity spot that features in all the publicity material - for good reason.
Last up was a stop at a cracking little beach, which some people had got the right info about swimming (but which I was told wasn't included).
The sun was fully out now and the afternoon was hot and gorgeous.
Thank you Halong Bay.
I didn't feel I'd missed out on visiting Lan Ha Bay as I originally planned.
Back to Halong city, sorted out my travel arrangements for tomorrow and the day. after, another tasty meal at the Vietnamese place across the road from my hotel, write this and turn in.
Today was a good day.Read more