Arrived in Hanoi at 5 in the morning after all night on the train, greeted by fog and misty rain. We were hoping we’d left the
cold behind in Sapa! As we’ll be returning to Hanoi in a week or so to meet up with our new fourth rider (hope he lasts longer than the previous one), we collected the bikes and headed straight down to Halong Bay.
After the full-on action of the past couple of weeks we’re feeling the need to relax and recharge for a day or two, and this should be the perfect spot – nearly 2,000 spectacular limestone ‘karsts’, islands rising up out of the water with vertical cliffs and the bay dotted with floating villages. The ferry ride over was a mission – at Halong City the crowd of touts assured us that the ferries didn’t run anymore, and we’d need to pay some exhorbitant sum for a private boat hire to get the 15-odd km to Cat Ba Island. A short ride back to Tuan Chau and we found the local ferry – $2.50 for a bike and rider…
We shared the 2hr ferry trip with a busload of uni students from Hanoi, which was hilarious. They all wanted to pose with our bikes
for pictures, then with us (because we were so tall)…
The early morning mist, and the trains coming and going was wonderfully atmospheric…
Chooks waiting for the ferry
The scenery would have been amazing if the fog wasn’t so heavy
Too cool for school
At one point we amused ourselves by arranging our student friends into height order…
I have nothing to say….. nor does the administrator Geoff!
Mat at his absolute best!