Arriving in Hanoi rather jaded from our overnight bus, we immediately set to arranging our trip to Halong Bay. We needed something to look forward to, and FAST! Less than 24 hours later we were en route to yet another World Heritage Site :)
With 2000 islands (although we did hear another rather tenuous version that there are 1969 islands which is the year that Ho Chi Minh died?!) rising up out of the emerald waters, Halong Bay is truly a breathtakingly beautiful place. Halong means 'where the dragon descends to the sea', and legend has it that a dragon gouged out the islands with its flailing tail, finally collapsing into the sea, filling the bay with water, leaving only the peaks visible. Well, you have to love a good dragon tale, eh?!
With gazillions of tour boat operators, it seems to be rather a minefield when it comes to picking your cruise. Luckily we had a very lovely wedding present from Steve and Jean to put towards our trip here, so we were able to take our pick from the rather more luxurious cruises - swit swoo!
The Paloma tempted us with her traditional junk boat style, honeymoon suite and gourmet food. Well, we did have a terrible journey from Hue and we are still on honeymoon after all! Here she is in all her glory...
We spent 3 days and 2 nights cruising like kings around Halong Bay and the surrounding areas, visiting a floating village, the 'amazing cave' (no joke), kayaking, squid fishing, spring roll making (and yes I got a prize as mine were so good! Hehe!), sipping cocktails at sunset and eating more food after more food. We also had a surprise in store for us on our second night...
Cue lights, cue the crew singing Unchained Melody, cue psychedelic cake, flaming cocktail, flowers and a china plate...and the whole ship chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
...one for the mantelpiece! ;)
We felt very lucky, and made some great friends along the way too...
Pearl farm at the floating village...
All in all, it was just perfect - thank you Steve and Jean!
x x x
P.S. A BIG thank you to Maddy who has helped me post this blog! Due to China's internet restrictions I can't access my blog from here :(
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