After work we headed to the airport and caught a flight to Hanoi. I thought the city would be similar in size to Siem Reap and was totally wrong. For an avid traveller I am pretty bad at research!
"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." - Wernher von Braun
The drive took about an hour and we got in about 11pm, we were met by a couple of porters and led down some dark lanes to the hotel, which made us both a little nervous, after our welcome drink and lots of information, we went straight to bed. The hotel we booked, the 'Serene Hotel' was supposed to be one of the most romantic in Hanoi and came with rose petals on the bed, a little wasted on us! But made us chuckle!
In the morning we were being picked up around 7am, so breakfast was an early affair and accompanied by a sweet, creamy birthday cake and lots of singing - very sweet of the hotel, pretty embarrassing though. I shared the cake around with all the guests (no one too keen for cake at 6.30am) and despite the hotel staff insisting I took it with me (on a 4 hour bus journey and a boat) I managed to insist harder that they must all have a slice and left it with them - really sweet of them!
"Birthdays are natures way of telling us to eat more cake" - anon (at 6am?!)
"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." - Wernher von Braun
The drive took about an hour and we got in about 11pm, we were met by a couple of porters and led down some dark lanes to the hotel, which made us both a little nervous, after our welcome drink and lots of information, we went straight to bed. The hotel we booked, the 'Serene Hotel' was supposed to be one of the most romantic in Hanoi and came with rose petals on the bed, a little wasted on us! But made us chuckle!
In the morning we were being picked up around 7am, so breakfast was an early affair and accompanied by a sweet, creamy birthday cake and lots of singing - very sweet of the hotel, pretty embarrassing though. I shared the cake around with all the guests (no one too keen for cake at 6.30am) and despite the hotel staff insisting I took it with me (on a 4 hour bus journey and a boat) I managed to insist harder that they must all have a slice and left it with them - really sweet of them!
"Birthdays are natures way of telling us to eat more cake" - anon (at 6am?!)
We were picked up and led to the mini bus and were soon on our way out of Hanoi, it was interesting to see more of Vietnam and strange for me to feel a much cooler temperature. I don't remember much about the journey other than our guide talking about how the Vietnamese love their alcohol! We finally got to the coast and took around 4 million Dong out of the cash point to see us through the trip - about $60 I think!
"People say that I'm a millionaire, but that's not true - I only spend millions." - Robert Plant
"People say that I'm a millionaire, but that's not true - I only spend millions." - Robert Plant
Soon we were on our way out of the harbour and heading toward Cat Ba Island.
Our little ferry took us to our boat.
So many boats all waiting for passengers at this harbour.
Our Cabin.
And we were off into the beauty of the bay.
People living and fishing on the boats out here.
"Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self." - Ted Hughes
And some bigger boats too.
I had a play around with sepia for that old world feel.
We loved these boats, they are used at night - can you see all the bulbs on top of the rigging? At night these are lit and it brings squid and octopus to the surface of the water for fishing.
"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
The place really is as stunning as the photos!
A little temple cut into the rock face.
Idyllic..
Into the bat cave (cave with bats not Batman's home).
There were lots of rock formations and everyone loves making pictures out of them - usually animals or religious depictions...
The light at the end of the tunnel!
Once back outside we were rewarded with some stunning views...
Next we headed off in our kayaks to see the sunset and a lagoon inside the rock formations before paddling back to the boat...(no pics of this bit as I didn't want to get the camera wet)
"Keep looking up! I learn from the past, dream about the future and look up. There's nothing like a beautiful sunset to end a healthy day." - Rachel Boston
It was pretty hard to find our boat as there were so many other kayak-ers and similar boats and our guide came to find us and a few others in the end. He had to go back and help a few people who weren't very water confident who also nearly capsized due to almost being run over by a tourist ferry!
Safely back on the boat it was time to enjoy the birthday / New Year celebrations and some scary rice vodka!
"I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party." - Ron White
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