Cruising on a junkboat in Ha Long bay

The stunning Ha Long bay

We were picked up by minibus from our hotel for the 3 hour drive to Ha Long bay, where we'd be spending a full day and night aboard a boat to cruise around the famous islands.

The boats all have to be painted white due to some regulation here (except one or two that probably paid to flout the rule and be different), and the boat itself wasn't too bad - it had a nice upper deck and overall didn't look as bad as others we saw en route to it!

Soon we were deep into the bay with a picturesque view from any direction you looked. This was always meant to be one of THE things to see in Vietnam and we weren't disappointed one bit. The islands have always been famous for their stunning views - made all the more famous for the setting of the villains lair in one of the Roger Moore James Bond films (the man with the golden gun I believe - the Roger Moore films are not my strongsuit with Bond knowledge).

After some lunch onboard we were out kayaking through caves and into secluded lakes within islands where we could see eagles stalking their prey before swooping into the water for the kill. We really savoured the scenery as well as the fun of kayaking - although we were in a double kayak and Claire wasn't doing a very good job as the 'steerer', meaning I had to put a double shift in as the 'driver'!

Kayaking in the bay 

Once back on board we were drinking complimentary red wine; the local wine from Da Lat which is the worst I've ever had, but I drank it anyway because it was free wine! Vietnam has a lot to learn in wine making. During this time drinking and taking in the view as we strolled by we got chatting to other couples on board: there was a Dutch couple of Portuguese descent, Belgians, Americans and a Vietnamese couple.

Chilling out on deck with the other couples from around the world

Just before we had our evening meal on board of local fish and other assorted cuisine we stopped at an island to climb to the top and admire an impressive view of the whole bay.

The boat then parked up in a spot with all the other boats in an area that had big 'P' signs on the islands surrounding us, which I found quite funny to think of this place as a kind of car park with matching signs, but this is one car park where I didn't mind sleeping in the car!

We spent the evening chatting away with the other couples about our experiences so far and life back in our respective countries, we spent the most time in particular with the Americans as one grew up in Reading so we had a few things in common to talk about.

We slept brilliantly that night, the room onboard was nicer than we expected and obviously had the nicest view of anywhere we'd had so far!

The next morning we visited the 'amazing caves' after breakfast and we were all intrigued as to whether they deserved such a title. There were a lot of other boats around so a shed load of people visiting them at the same time (one of the main stopping points in the morning clearly). Each cave turned out to be bigger than the last, with the last one being absolutely huge - justifying the title 'amazing' in my eyes. There were some side attractions highlighted inside like the rock that looks like a lion, the one that looks like a turtle and the one that looks like.... A penis (gotta laugh). But the caves were impressive and certainly a worthy stop.

The biggest chamber of the 'amazing' cave

The last thing on our trip as we headed back to the bay was to learn how to make fresh spring rolls - something I'd looked forward to as I LOVE spring rolls. They were a lot easier than I thought apart from the actual rolling bit and I can't wait to practice when I get home for some lucky friends.

Learning to make spring rolls

Before we returned we had to sit through a very brief but heavy storm, which I thought was awesome but the girls on board were a bit frightened so we played some uno to calm everyones nerves before disembarking.

The drive back took longer than expected due to the road not being fully built and traffic. As well as this there was one final talking point as the driver hit two cyclists! I was JUST falling asleep at the time but awoke to the sound and we slowed down to see two people on the floor, one grimacing and holding his arm - to our disbelief, the driver drove off when he saw someone attend to them without even an apology! We couldn't believe it and felt terrible for the people hit but that just seems the way they are here as even our tour guide seemed to brush off the incident. That aside, the staff had been great though!

In all we had an amazing time onboard and could easily see why this is such a big draw for Vietnam. You just can't get such scenery elsewhere, which makes it such a unique place to visit. And doing it on an overnight boat tour is the best way to do so as you do it in style and comfort. This was pretty much the last thing we did before ending our month long stay in Vietnam and it had been thoroughly worth the wait, if you're ever in or even near the country I'd tell you to get yourself there if the weather's good enough - you won't regret it.