This morning we got up at 7:15am and packed our bags as we were checking out and heading off for a two day trip. We had breakfast and waited to be picked up. We were told we were going to be picked up at 8, but the minibus was late and it was more like half 8 by the time it arrived. We piled in, picked up a couple more people and we were on our way to Ha Long Bay. The journey was quite bumpy and there were no seat belts so a couple of times we went flying off our seats. One time I whacked my head on the roof above the window. It was a very long journey so we stopped around half 10 for a break.
We got to Ha Long Bay around 12:45. Our guide told us that Ha Long means 'descending dragon'. The dragon is one of 4 sacred animals in Vietnamese culture. The others are unicorns, turtles and the Phoenix. Ha Long bay consists of 1969 islands, which are all made out of limestone. Once we arrived, we got off the bus onto a small boat which took us to the boat we'll be staying on tonight. It did not look great from the outside. We 'checked in' to our room and were pleasantly surprised. It was a nicely kitted out twin room with an ensuite. It wasn't that big but then we were on a boat.
Next we had lunch on the boat. It was a pretty awesome spread. There was fish, tofu, breaded pork, squid, veg and dragon fruit. I tried everything except the squid and dragon fruit. I ate so much. We sat on a table with two girls from different parts of Europe who were travelling together and chatted to them. After lunch we had a bit of free time while we sailed to our first stop. We watched from the top deck as we sailed past many islands of different shapes and sizes.
Our first stop was the biggest cave on Ha Long Bay, called Surprise Cave. I'm not sure why it's called surprise cave. There wasn't really any surprises unless you count the phallic shaped rock in the middle. The cave has three chambers you could walk through. It was pretty cool and has some pretty awesome rock formations on the walls and ceiling. It took us about 45 minutes to wander through the three chambers and back to the boat. The cave was very busy with many boats turning up and many different tours. It was obviously a main attraction in the bay.
Next we went to Ti Top island, named after some dude. I couldn't quite understand what our guide was telling us. At Ti Top island we climbed 400 stairs to a look out point for a view over the bay (the nearby bits anyway). Unfortunately it has been raining all day and was very misty which meant we didn't get to see Ha Long Bay in all its beauty and the views from the top of the lookout where not as amazing as they could have been. But it was still alright.
After this we headed back to the big boat where there was a fresh fruit platter waiting for us. Neither Lauren or I indulged in it. We played cards until dinner time. At dinner we sat with two Argentinian girls. We were served a beef dish, breaded chicken with veg inside, seafood roll things, 'morning glory' which was like spinach (maybe) and covered in garlic, and we were also served mussels and prawns which neither me or Lauren touched. We tried most of the other things. We chatted to the other girls over dinner and afterwards until we were the last ones left. They were very funny and nice girls. Then around half 9 we went off to our rooms to go to bed as we had an early start the next day.
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