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Escape to the Bay
This weekend I took my first trip out of the city to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site in the Quảng Ninh province. Ha Long Bay literally translates as 'Descending dragon bay' and over its 1500 metre squared area thousands of limestone karsts are spread. We met up bright and early on Saturday morning and were soon zooming away out of the city eastwards, leaving the bustling early morning street vendors of the old quarter behind. We were entertained on our minibus ride to the port of Ha Long, by our guide Lien who gave us a mini lesson about the history, geography and demographics of Viet Nam. It wasn't long before we arrived at the port and eager to set sail quickly embarked onto our 'junk boat' (a type of Chinese sailboat). We would be spending one night on the boat, sharing quaint little cabins below deck, each with bay view windows and en-suite bathrooms! After changing into more suitable boat slash tanning attire we settled down to a seafood lunch. We were treated to a delicious feast of fresh crab, squid
, prawns and fish, yum!Feeling rather full Lucia (from Argentina) and I were relieved when Lien informed us we would have a little time to 'rest' before our kayaking adventure. After sailing for about 2 hours we reached our kayaking destination where we dropped anchor and made our way onto the water. We kayaked through lots of little caves, one where the water level was so high that we had to lie down completely flat on the kayak to fit through. This inevitably led to quite a few near 'scraped face' experiences! On returning to the boat and feeling a little tired after our efforts we were all very happy to jump ship and take a cooling swim. The top deck of our boat was conveniently kitted out with sun-loungers and was the perfect place to spend the rest of the day as we sailed towards our sleeping spot watching the sun go down as dusk moved in. Dinner was another divine banquet of s
eafood, salads and rice (i could get used to this!) finished with some refreshing pineapple and watermelon. Knowing that we had an early start the next day, we spent the rest of the evening chilling and exchanging stories out on the top deck, before retiring to our little cabins. Lucia and I attempted to do some reading before going to sleep but neither of us lasted very long and both agreed it was time for lights out! After an early morning breakfast we sailed to our morning spot to visit 'The Amazing Cave' (yes that is what it is called!). Lien pointed out to us all the 'natural' rock formations that looked like animals or people such 
as dragons, Kings and Queens and a Happy Buddha. We returned to our boat and spent the rest of the morning sailing further around the bay and little islets, before beginning our return back to the port. We packed up our bags and said goodbye to our cute little cabin before coming ashore onto dry land. We had lunch in a nearby restaurant before beginning our journey back to the city, all feeling better after a dose of sun, swimming and fresh air.
This weekend I took my first trip out of the city to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site in the Quảng Ninh province. Ha Long Bay literally translates as 'Descending dragon bay' and over its 1500 metre squared area thousands of limestone karsts are spread. We met up bright and early on Saturday morning and were soon zooming away out of the city eastwards, leaving the bustling early morning street vendors of the old quarter behind. We were entertained on our minibus ride to the port of Ha Long, by our guide Lien who gave us a mini lesson about the history, geography and demographics of Viet Nam. It wasn't long before we arrived at the port and eager to set sail quickly embarked onto our 'junk boat' (a type of Chinese sailboat). We would be spending one night on the boat, sharing quaint little cabins below deck, each with bay view windows and en-suite bathrooms! After changing into more suitable boat slash tanning attire we settled down to a seafood lunch. We were treated to a delicious feast of fresh crab, squid
, prawns and fish, yum!Feeling rather full Lucia (from Argentina) and I were relieved when Lien informed us we would have a little time to 'rest' before our kayaking adventure. After sailing for about 2 hours we reached our kayaking destination where we dropped anchor and made our way onto the water. We kayaked through lots of little caves, one where the water level was so high that we had to lie down completely flat on the kayak to fit through. This inevitably led to quite a few near 'scraped face' experiences! On returning to the boat and feeling a little tired after our efforts we were all very happy to jump ship and take a cooling swim. The top deck of our boat was conveniently kitted out with sun-loungers and was the perfect place to spend the rest of the day as we sailed towards our sleeping spot watching the sun go down as dusk moved in. Dinner was another divine banquet of s
eafood, salads and rice (i could get used to this!) finished with some refreshing pineapple and watermelon. Knowing that we had an early start the next day, we spent the rest of the evening chilling and exchanging stories out on the top deck, before retiring to our little cabins. Lucia and I attempted to do some reading before going to sleep but neither of us lasted very long and both agreed it was time for lights out! After an early morning breakfast we sailed to our morning spot to visit 'The Amazing Cave' (yes that is what it is called!). Lien pointed out to us all the 'natural' rock formations that looked like animals or people such 
as dragons, Kings and Queens and a Happy Buddha. We returned to our boat and spent the rest of the morning sailing further around the bay and little islets, before beginning our return back to the port. We packed up our bags and said goodbye to our cute little cabin before coming ashore onto dry land. We had lunch in a nearby restaurant before beginning our journey back to the city, all feeling better after a dose of sun, swimming and fresh air.
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