Tuesday saw the first of our tourist / culture days. We set off from Hanoi (in rain and very heavy traffic) to drive for about 3 hours north to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is Vietnam's UNESCO World Heritage site, a facinating collection of limestone islands (1169 altogether and only 2 inhabited). We boarded the Emeraude, a r
eplica steam cruiser for the cruise and to stay overnight .We had a terrific cruise through magnificent scenery, including some wonderful floating villages. The video clip shows one of them. We had lunch on board and then continued around the bay in blissful sunshine. We boarded a small launch to take us to the
Surprise Caves .. where ancient Vietnamese had lived centuries beforehand but was formally 'discovered' by the French in the early 1900's.We both took advantage of the on board Spa and had Thai massages .. ve
ry interesting ! We're hoping to feel the advantage for the rest of the trip ! We had dinner on board and watched a movie, and then headed off to our cabins, ready for an early start for Coffee and Tai Chi on deck at 6.30 !! a great start to the day.
We docked at about 9.30 and then drove back to Hanoi for some more sight seeing, around the city, including the Temple of Literature,
featuring Confuscious, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Tomb of Ho Chi Minh, the first President and Father of modern Vietnam.Tomorrow, we have a leisurely start at about 11am, to fly to Saigon and then drive to Phan Thiet, where we play the Nick Faldo Ocean Dunes Club on Friday. We're really looking forward to that. Will check in again when we can.
Best Regards,
Martina & Kate.
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