Yesterday, we departed Hanoi for an overnight cruise in Hạ Long Bay. We were collected from our hotel and joined the bus with people from Los Angeles and Mexico City. Once we arrived at the port at the entrance to the bay, we were collected by a tender boat for a 40 minute trip to the Genesis Regal Cruise boat. Mum, you guessed it, I was very unwell after this.

We experienced a very warm welcome onto the boat by Sunny, Nancy and Tony and their colleagues – the most lovely group of people. We enjoyed lunch and the food was amazing (which seems to be a common theme). We were seated next to Karin and Dennis, a couple from Arizona who have travelled to every continent except Australia and Antarctica.

We checked into our room which was “absolutely stunning and the best room I’ve ever stayed in”, according to Pat – I probably agree. We purchased a bottle of red wine off the side of the boat from a Vietnamese lady on a bamboo boat – we definitely paid too much, but it’s all part of the experience.

At about 4:00pm, we took a bamboo boat through the cave system of Hạ Long Bay, which was truly magnificent. Once we returned to the cruise, we were able to jump off the roof of the tender boat into the bay. The water is SO salty! This was probably the highlight – it was so amazing to be in the water surrounded by limestone mountains. You feel so small in comparison to the world, in a humbling way.

The water temperature was similar to the beach back home (19°-ish). As it’s winter here, the water won’t get any cooler than this. Nonetheless, we enjoyed a warm bath with the most breathtaking view, followed by happy hour (3 for 2 cocktails) and a rice paper roll-making-class, where we met Alessandra and Antonio from Italy.

Then, it was dinner (next to Karin and Dennis again), and we sat chatting for a few hours until it was time to go squid fishing! Yay! My version of squid fishing is drinking wine. Anyway, we “fished” and chatted with our Mexican friends, who thought we were on our honeymoon and about 10 years older than we are – not sure if that’s a good thing.

Pat and I enjoyed the peace and night time view of the bay and surrounding boats from our private deck while we finished our bottle of wine – life is good! However, we had to be up for Thái cực quyền (Tai Chi) at 6:00am on the top deck – it was very chilly. Tai Chi was followed by breakfast, which was followed by kayaking in the bay at 7:30am. So productive!

We then returned to the boat and checked out of our beautiful room to take the tender boat back to mainland. We said goodbye to Hạ Long Bay and Hanoi and took a transfer to Noi Bai Airport (Hanoi Airport) ready for our flight to Dong Hoi for our cave tour and hike through Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. Wish me luck.

Anyway, we are currently enjoying a beer in Bamboo Airways business lounge at Noi Bai Airport – very lucky.