Halong Bay day 2 - Nam Cat island

This morning we got up early for Tai Chi exercises on the boat deck at dawn! I say early but it was actually a relative "lie in" for us as we all slept through until 5:30am - only our 2nd full night's sleep in 8 days, since we left Costa Rica - much needed, and hoping this is the turning point on the jet lag front... The weather was good to us again and we got to see the beautiful sunrise over Halong Bay. After breakfast we went to visit "Surprising Cave", the biggest cave in Halong Bay. It was pretty impressive, with 3 large chambers, the last of which was vast. It had some amazing stalagmites and stalactites too, in allsorts of weird and wonderful shapes. After the cave we cruised further out into the bay and into neighbouring Lan Ha Bay. Along the way we saw some floating houses and lots of floating fish and oyster farms, where people live and work on the water. Our home for the afternoon and night was a lovely beach bungalow room on the small island of Nam Cat - see penultimate photo. We spent the afternoon enjoying the view, swimming in the sea and walking/swimming across to the tiny beach on the island opposite (see last photo) - Solana was particularly excited to be able to swim to a different island (though I have to admit that all 3 of us shared the excitement of that little achievement, if we're honest!). Solana actually managed to stay awake until dinner time and to eat some dinner - the first time I think she's managed both of those things since we arrived in Vietnam - hopefully the first of many.... We met a new friend today - Barbara from Brazil, who is travelling through Thailand and Vietnam - we all enjoyed having somebody new to talk to and Solana in particular was happy to have a new friend! Then, as the party animals that we are, we were all asleep before 9pm...Read more