We then set sail through the most breathtaking scenery imaginable, while sitting on the deck with a cold beer. We stopped at 'Surprising Cave' where we wandered through the many rock formations, before we climbed what felt like 342 million steps to a viewpoint overlooking the bay. The view was well worth the effort though. After another two hours of relaxing on our "junk' boat we dropped anchor and decided to do some swimming. Jumping off the top deck of the boat and trying to avoid the jellyfish below, we had a great time. Though it wasn't that well for two other people who got stung by the jellyfish. Then it was kayaking for an hour or two while watching the amazing sunset from the middle of the bay.

 

Day two began at dawn when we woke for breakfast before transferring to a smaller boat and heading to Cat Ba island. After rowing to shore, we began our three and a half hour hike through the jungle. This was a much tougher trek than Thailand, but was well worth it. We saw more than our fair share of big poisonous spiders, centipedes, stick insects the size of my foot and butterflies the size of bats.

 

The final day started off with our complimentary buffet breakfast at 7 AM (which believe me, I took full advantage of). Having thrown down a full fry, a plate of spaghetti bolognaise (I know, I was surprised to see it there as a breakfast too),a bowl of fruit, juice & coffee, we were back on our boat on our way back to Halong City. We returned to port at midday where we had a final lunch before being dropped back to Hanoi.