Halong Bay :)

The day starts well with me being able to re-book into the Bamboo hotel on the 29th Dec and get a taxi to the airport sorted :) However, after this I find that the tour to HB starts 1 hour later than stated and the traffic to get to the bay is horrendous - as single file traffic over one bridge on route tales up all the traffic as the Vietnamese driver considers it his right to drive down the other side of the road stopping oncoming traffic and therefore leading to huge delays and tailbacks which could be avoided if people lined up and had a little patience!!

I have a difficult job as any words that I could use are insufficient to describe the wonder that is Halong Bay - but I will humbly do my best for the reader…
Halong bay is a place of mystical beauty with islands of limestone seeming to float on the ocean with serene grace. The grandeur of the landscape becomes apparent only as you pass close by transfixed by the passing naturally shaped formations of rock which seem to have been laid down in layers and then folded to form these hills which on their sides reveal the secrets of ages past and the growing pains of our planet. At sunset the landscape becomes something from a dream with the red of the setting sun reflected on the surface of the sea framing the elegant shapes of the enshrouding hills around you. Truly just magical. I can see where some artists started to draw floating mountains, as when sitting on the top deck of a drifting ship you have the strange visual effect of the nearest hills gently floating around J Wonderful…
We also visited a cave system on the standard tour - and this will be the same for all visitors who stay 2-3 nights. If you can try and get through the first commercial cave ASAP as it is the second cave which has been left far more in its natural form and has almost no visitors!! I was there alone but the first cave had coach loads of eager photographers taking group photos posed in front of pillars and stalagmites. If you opt for the three day tour then it will mean a trip to Cat Ba island (Another area which is growing rapidly with huge tourist hotels and restaurants fronting the island). However there is a national park covering a large area and for 15,000d you can hike up the tallest hill along a quite challenging trail - you will find yourself literally clambering over rocks and pulling yourself up over obstacles until you reach the peak which grants you stunning views of the Karst landscape. Wonderful. If your brave and lucky enough you could be one of the few to climb to the top of the 10m rusty, shaky iron tower on the top of the peak!!
The most shocking sight of the day must been the ‘Dynamite Fishing’ being carried out by local boatmen as we turned into the secluded cove. The thumping boom could be heard like a mini depth charge across the water and fish would float to the surface stunned. Mad.