HA LONG BAY HIGHLIGHT

(Last blog for a few days as off from a day in Hanoi to mountain villages and walking and then a few days trekking - not much time and not worth taking netbook with us)

The overnight stay on the boat and sail around Ha Long Bay proved to be as good as anticipated – with the added bonus of an upgraded boat.  If the Guide was happy, then so would we be – especially after another overnight train trip, which we are now getting used to – a bit! 

Here I am snuggled up in my sleeping bag liner on my top bunk!






A bit different to the boat which had a lovely room with sliding glass doors and great bathroom – the best room we have had on any boat – ferries and cruises we usually go for the inside cabin as we are rarely in them.  Nice top deck with bar and loungers and great food for the 3 meals we had on board.  Far too short a stay!



The limestone pinnacle scenery is stunning and just like the photos and documentaries – but a grey and misty day, so didn’t get the turquoise seas – apparently it is like this a lot of the time.  We went out on kayaks and the tender to various caves, beaches and under limestone bat tunnels




Only downside was us – tourists!  To cater for the huge demand there are dozens and dozens of boats – some smaller, some bigger, than ours and all leaving from the same harbour in a lunchtime rush for the overnighters and an early morning rush for the day trippers.  Consequently, the harbour is now a concrete jungle of hotels and apartments – another coastline ruined (as was the beach area further south at Nha Trang, which is now a Russian mecca) and being ruined like the Algarve and the rest of the Med, Egypt’s Red Sea, Florida Keys and all the other beauty spots around the world that we all travel to – only to find we are way behind the hordes who have already found and built their concrete empires there. 

And unfortunately, as with many of the poorer Caribbean islands, the locals villagers and local tourists are way behind in terms of conserving the pristine beauty of what they have (Western areas are belatedly cleaning up their acts pollution wise, but the concrete is there to stay) – plastic bags and rubbish floats gently past the boat, detracting somewhat from the beauty of the pinnacles.   But we are not much better at home - we pick up at least 2 bags of rubbish from the lane to the school and stables near us a couple of times a year, and looking at the state of our motorway and other verges, there are still plenty of people just chucking their rubbish out of the window.

But still a highlight of the trip and a bit of luxurious living and quiet time after the frantic cities.