Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay is on the north east coast of Viet Nam and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site because of it's strange geology.  It is quite a stunning stretch of coast line, with huge limestone craggs rising from the water and lots of little coves within.

Our plan was to sail round the bay on a Junk boat, spending one night on board and then some kayaking and swimming. Sadly we arrived in Ha Long Bay just hours after one of the Junk boats sank with 27 people on board, 12 people lost their lives. 

The tour operators tried to keep the sinking very quiet however a couple of Swiss girls we were with got a text message from a friend informing them about it and word quickly spread. The tour operators then tried to manoevre people into a one day tour but the internet was saying that they were still looking for survivors so the four of us opted out.  It felt a little disrespectful, and whilst the bay is large we are reminded time and again how small a world we live in.

We had a lovely quiet lunch at the edge of the beach in a sweet little restaurant and talked about cup cakes and a Swiss/English chain of cup cake and hot chocolate shops.  Oh that does sound tempting. Please can someone get me a cup cake in for when I get home!

On a lighter note, we met another travelling gnome today, Hans is from Holland and to date has visited 23 countries. Norman has someway to go to catch up but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

This evening sees us returning to Ha Noi and the lovely Ha Noi Street Hotel, tomorrow we will visit the museum of ethnology and arrange a shuttle bus to the airport for our flight to Bangkok on Saturday morning.