Halong Bay - The most beautiful place on Earth!

Sorry Mumsie! No blog for a couple of days because of no access to the Internet!

On Monday morning, we checked out of our Hanoi hotel early to go to Halong Bay.  It was a grueling four hour drive and the roads are so slow!  I don't think our driver ever got above 50 mph, but was probably mostly doing about 35mph.  I think they have to drive pretty slowly to avoid all the scooters!  Drivers blow their horns incessantly, but I don't think it is in an aggressive way, it's more as a warning to say "I'm about to cut in front of you - back off".  
My work colleagues will love this picture!  I think Dave could introduce a new express delivery service for 3 or less cylinders!

We also saw a scooter with what seemed to be giant poppadoms on board!

We called for a break after a couple of hours at a really strange place.  The manager followed us around this enormous shop the whole time we were there trying to persuade us to buy things,  It was really disconcerting!  He tried to convince us that they fired and painted all their pots on site and embroidered all their own pictures, but there were absolutely no workers!  It all seemed very staged - we didn't buy anything.

Once we arrived at Halong Bay, it seemed like a well-oiled machine and we were soon on a tender boat to take us to our Junk.  It was amazingly luxurious!  Our bedroom, albeit small, was as good as any hotel room and the en-suite bathroom was all in marble with a large shower.  We were invited to lunch and it was amazing!  It was all Veitnamese food and was absolutely delicious - all seven courses!  We started with a clam chowder, then spring rolls and there were a couple of king prawn dishes, which were to die for!
We were then able to chill on deck for an hour or so whilst they sailed further out into the bay.  

It is absolutely stunning!  You cannot imagine that there can be a more beautiful place on Earth than this!  After the madness of the city, the serenity of this place cleansed the soul.

We eventually stopped at Titop Island, which had a small beach (no doubt imported sand) and steps to the top of the mountain. 
In 1962, this tiny island had the honour or receiving a visit from astronaut Ghermann Titov, a hero of the former Soviet Union.  He was accompanied by Ho Chi Minh and "Uncle Ho" named the place Titop Island in remembrance of their visit.

There are 427 stone steps up to the top of the island and we all made an effort to climb them in the blistering midday sun.  Many of the steps had no railings at either side to hold on to and Louise, who isn't keen on heights, dropped out at the first rest point.  I managed 305 steps before calling it a day, but both Pauls made it to the top and were rewarding with amazing scenes of the bay!

We the  sailed further into the bay to the Floating Village.  There is a community of about 1600 people in  total living in four villages at the base of the islands.  They mostly sustain themselves through fishing, although a flotilla of women collected us in boats, which only held four passengers, to show us their village, so tourism is obviously now part of their economy. The floating houses are mostly built on plastic barrels and are anchored together in the sheltered coves.  You could tell that some inhabitants were more affluent than others, although most of them seemed to have a somewhat scrawny looking dog at the front of their house!   Our guide pointed out the village school and her own house.  There was a young girl of about 9 years old  in a boat shouting and having a proper temper tantrum!    Our guide explained that  it was her daughter and she wanted to row out to  our boat.  We said it was fine by us, but apparently, it wasn't allowed.   

There are about 50 families in the village, and nearly 100 children.  They have to be very organised, especially with hygiene  and the well-off families even have TV's.  There is also one community house where they hold their meetings..

Once back on board the junk, we had some relaxation time before going down to dinner.  Yet another excellent meal - we are certainly getting a taste for this Vietnamese food!
We sat on deck in the balmy evening heat enjoying a beer and glass of wine and relishing the stillness of the night without a single scooter to be heard - absolute heaven!