Halong Bay, Vietnam, November 2010

What I did…

Off to Halong Bay the next morning armed with nothing more than my toothbrush, swim shorts and a couple of t-shirts to change into. On the way Laura and Brogan asked us if we were in the ‘Game of Life’ … the rules will not be posted as once you know the rules, your in the the game… for life, so we are in. I ended getting caught out quite a lot! Halong Bay is stunning! We got onto our boat and started to sail through the mountains protruding out of the sea. WOW! We hiked a little, up one of the mountains and then through some huge caves. We then kayaked around the bay for around an hour and then got back to our boat, ate and then played more drinking games.

Next morning we were woke up at 6.30 AM by our guide Can so we could dive off the top of the boat into the sea. Freezing but did the job waking us up… Climbed to top of mountain on an island with great views. Got back on the boat and headed towards our hotel for the night. After lunch we headed to Monkey Island. The monkeys took a shine to Ed and Laura… two of them chased Ed down the beach and then one of them bit Laura! It’s been a while and she’s still with us so rabies has not took hold. After dinner we decided that it would be rude not to have a few beers and play Circle of Death… the game went well (Body shots!), we were pretty drunk by the end and headed out to some bars. Got beat at Foosball by Brogan then we all headed to bed…

We were all late for brekkie the next morning so had nothing to eat… got the boat then the bus all the way back to Hanoi and had a chilled night watching Law Abiding Citizen.

Brogan still feeling ill so the rest of us left her in bed while we went round Hanoi again. I love this city so much, the hussle, the bussle, the tight streets, all the bikes, the people I met… just a great place! Thanksgiving meal Asian style for Laura and we walked back through the maze of streets to our hostel… our bus to Sappa came and we had a rushed goodbye with Brogan and Laura. Two great people who we will definitely be seeing again, hopefully sooner rather than later!

I left my iPhone behind reception but remembered just in time for the hostel owner to hand deliver it to my bus stop via motorbike… phew… Sappa here we come!