Halong Bay by junk

Halong Bay from Titop Island

Today was another day Sally and I have been particularly looking forward to. After seeing Halong Bay on TV(including Top Gear in Vietnam), numerous films, in magazines, and on the internet we've wanted to come and see the hundreds of spectacular limestone rock formations, just off the coast of north-east Vietnam - about 100km from the Chinese border.

Sung Sot Cave

We took an overnight cruise, by traditional junk, amongst the rocks and islands of this UNESCO World Heritage site. We called at a spectacular cave called Sung Sot Cave (Cave of Surprises), which involved climbing 125 steps up a cliff, and Titop Island which has a lookout point at it's peak. I decided to risk a coronary and climb the 465 steps to the top but Sally thought she'd sit it out and relax on the boat. Sally was probably more sensible than me, but there was a lovely view from the top - once I'd wiped the sweat from my eyes.

Lunch was provided on the junk, 8 courses of which most were seafood (Sally doesn't eat seafood!), also dinner (again 8 courses of seafood!). After dinner we sat on the deck, under the full moon chatting to the other guests on the cruise and Sally spotted a spectacular meteor (which I missed), and then retired to our very cosy cabin.

Daybreak in Halong Bay

In the morning I got up early and sat on the deck while the sun rose - at least I assume it rose because it did get light, but low cloud and light drizzle prevented me from actually seeing it.

Breakfast was at 7am sharp and consisted of ham and eggs and hot bread rolls with butter and jam (no fish!!). Afterwards we all disembarked into a rowing boat and were taken through a cave with a very low roof and into an enclosed lagoon beyond, where we watched macaque monkeys playing on the cliffs near the boat.

Before we disembarked for the 4 hour drive back to Hanoi we were fed brunch; another meal of many courses with lots of seafood. Sally loved it.

Macaques

The drive back to Hanoi is not through the most attractive countryside and we both nodded off from time to time. On the outskirts of Hanoi our guide pointed out a woman riding a moped - with a bundle of 8 grilled dogs on the back. Both Sally and I did find this shocking, even though we'd been told that the Vietnamese do eat dog.

Location:Halong Bay, Vietnam