They say Ha Long Bay is one of the new natural wonders of the world, and wow does it live up to expectation.

We booked our trip with Kangaroo Cafe for a bargain price which we shared with 7 other people. Michelle was delighted to find that there were 5 other Aussies on the boat, so she could catch up with the local dialect in time for December. Surprisingly conversations surrounding cricket/rugby/olympics/tennis (insert any meaningful sport) were short lived and one sided.

Ha Long Bay is in the south China sea and is made up of 2000 islands of varying scale with the majority 50 – 100 m high lumps of rock which together form an awe inspiring sight.

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We travelled around on our boat to many of these rocks and saw some local villages. All of the 40 villages in the bay are floating on the water which makes gardening easier and moving away from that annoying neighbour becomes less of a hassle.

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We stayed on Cat Ba Island where we got our first taste of the sea. I literally did as I forgot to breathe out/hold nose when first jumping off the top deck of the boat…..we are certainly looking forward to the next beach.

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Off to Hanoi and Ho Chi Min now, so looking forward to some nice quiet streets where traffic rules are totally obeyed!

P.S. Tony – Michelle demonstrated her rubbing elbow trick which everyone was suitably unimpressed! šŸ™‚