Halong Bay, Day 2

Up again at 6.30am, this is becoming a habit!!!......which I do not intend to continue when I get home ;). A member of staff was taking some guests through some basic tai chi on deck, then we had a light breakfast, coffee & cake, before boarding the tender boat to go to the floating village. Once there we got into bamboo village boats, a bit like coracles in design and we were rowed round the village, which was very sleepy at the time. The final call was at the Pearl Farm where we were shown how they implant the nucleus and something else ( I couldn't quite understand the demonstrator) into an oyster, then grow them on in the sea water for 18months until a pearl is formed. Of course there was a shopping opportunity, but no-one from our group succumbed! Apparently the government is relocating these people to the land, so that the children can have a better education, however there are not enough land based jobs for the adults, so many of them buy a motor boat and continue fishing.

Once back on board the Treasure, we showered and packed, before a very large brunch, which was a mixture of Vietnamese dishes and western style toast, omelette, fried eggs etc.  By this time we were making our way back to the Halong Bay port, where we arrived slightly early. We disembarked At11.0am to wait for about 45 mins in a local cafe, until the minibus arrived from Hanoi with the next group of guests. The cafe had aircon and wifi, so we were soon catching up on the last 24hrs news etc.

Then it was back on the bus, for the four hour journey to Hanoi. Apparently a new highway is being built, which should reduce the driving time by half, but it will probably not be completed for another five years. It is a busy road, with lots of trucks, but it passes through quite a few towns and a lot of countryside, mainly rice growing, and some industry including a large Canon factory. We were back in Hanoi about 3.45, and home half an hour later.

We really enjoyed this trip, we could not fault the organsation, the service, or the facilities.

Tomorrow we are on duty to take Orlo to school, then we plan to go into the city again and wander the Old Quarter, as it was very busy when we were there at the beginning of our trip