18th April 2010 We awoke this morning to find the karsts of Ha long Bay shrouded in fog, giving it a mysterious, other-worldy air. We had been hoping to witness it in sunshine, but failing this, to see the ghost like forms rising from the sea was the next best thing. We transferred to Cat Ba Island. This was used as an army base during the war and the Vietnamese army actually made one of the island’s caves into a 16 bed hospital, protecting it from American bombs. ...
17th April 2010 Ha Long Bay is one of Vietnam’s most famous natural tourist attractions. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are literally hundreds of boats visiting it everyday and there are a myriad of tours available from Hanoi. Karen had recommended the trip which we booked two and a half weeks ago in Saigon. As we’ve become accustomed to, we had very little information about the tour’s itinerary besides it being three days and two nights. One night would be spent about a boat in Halong Bay and one night in a beach hut on Monkey Island. However, we weren’t worried since Karen had already done this trip with her parents, and enjoyed it. ...