Halong Bay = 10/10

This morning we arrived in Hue after an overnight train trip in a bed made for... people who are vertically challenged! By quite a stroke of luck we were in a cabin with two Londoners from our Halong Bay trip! We were very pleased to have them as cabin mates, although by the time Adam had shared his full arsenal of inappropriate jokes I'm certain they weren't as pleased to share a room with us. We are now staying at the Mercure Hotel in Hue and it is fantastic. After spending 13 hours in a small train cabin, one's appreciation for a spacious room and a good shower increases ten-fold.

So, if asked to describe Halong Bay in one word we would leave you with 'spectacular', but the reason I have a blog is so that I can use as many words as I like! The scenery in Halong Bay is quite something, the karst rocks tower over the boat and hide tiny beaches and numerous caves. The water is a deep bluish green and once we were out of the Halong City harbour it was beautifully still. All this can be peacefully taken in on the Dragon's Pearl III top deck loungers. The weather was perfect (cloudy and sunny) and the company on the boat was better than we could have hoped for. I must admit, being amongst people who spoke English was an absolute treat and would you believe I met two teachers!

The highlights for us both were the kayaking (I did most of the work while Adam took photos) and visiting the Halong Bay Fishing Village (they live on floating houses!).

Gazing up at the sheer rock faces of the mini-islands from the kayak made me feel like I was in a bowl of cookies in cream on 'Honey I shrunk the kids!'. The tranquility of this place is very relaxing, and I considered it a massive plus that kayaks don't have horns of the beeping kind! Indochina Junk is the company that owned our boat and they had rights to the areas where we anchored, so we had the added bonus of enjoying the views pretty much on our own.

To get to the Halong Bay Fishing Village we were picked up in rowing boats by young girls and women from the village. Approximately 170 people live there and obviously they are all fishermen, there was one floating hut that sold souvenirs and a school with only tables, chairs and a blackboard. If the children want to continue going to school after primary age they must board on the mainland. We were welcomed by a smiling host who served us green tea and happily answered all of our questions (translated by our guide Son - who was also fantastic). Yes, they have showers. The fresh water comes from barrels delivered by trading boats that come to the area to buy fish. Yes, they have TV's but they must save for a long time and it is not common to have one. If they get sick they go by speed boat to the mainland and it's takes four and a half hours! You wouldn't want it to be an emergency. Yes, they can marry whoever they want and afterwards they have a big party. Yes, they have a leader and they call him the chief. He is voted for because he is well respected by all and a paper is signed to make him officially the chief. Yes, the fish supplies are dwindling and that's why they are so grateful to have tourists visit as an extra income. I could have asked questions all day, I found the people to be relaxed, happy and welcoming.

I asked our guide about the rubbish in the water (compared to New Zealand, there is quite a lot), he said when Indochina Junk first came to the area there was rubbish everywhere and they spent a long time cleaning it up. Now they try to educate the people in the floating villages not to throw their rubbish in the water so they collect it and send it back to the mainland to be disposed of.

Our last night on the Dragon's Pearl III was absolute stunning, we had a barbeque in a cave above a small beach. The cave is apparently 3 million years old and the crew had lit it with tea light candles everywhere! It was so surreal, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was on some kind of theme park ride!

This brings me to the food. The first lunch on the boat was definitely the best, with only one dish that I didn't like. The rest of the trip was a mix of good, bad and strange. I mention it last because I couldn't have cared less about the food with such amazing surroundings! Although, the oyster fritters were so tasty, one was not enough!

Now that we have sufficiently recharged our batteries in an air-conditioned room with a view, we're heading off to see the sights of Hue.