Vietnam 8 Halong Bay - Part 1

Our itinerary said we were to "travel overland to Halong Bay, one of UNESCO world heritage sites." I had seen pictures but Halong Bay was certainly intriguing and being made into a paradise for tourists while still trying to conserve and preserve its uniqueness. I had some reservations, but the trip was well worth the visit, and spending a night on board a junk boat was a novelty for me and great fun. The port where we picked up our boat was the nearest to an up and coming 'Marbella' type place, time share apartments and huge boats. I suspect this area will be changing very quickly. There were signs of building taking place and when I googled the area later I found huge complex were for sale, some by the week, some as holiday rental propositions.

We were dropped off at a place where we picked up a small boat to get to our main junk boat. It was about the first time health and safety was taken seriously as they made sure we had life jackets, some were even done up!

We were very lucky with the weather, maybe this was the only time! But the sun shone, the view was clear, not too hot, but comfortable to just watch as the rocks loomed up, and then faded into the past... I was reminded of an old computer game called Myst. A pleasant cruise...

Of course, there was a huge meal onboard the junk boat, and local beer... and more...