Ah beautiful Ha Long Bay with its fabulous limestone geography, caves and beautiful cruise boats.
The region is World Heritage listed and I hope the government will insist on cleaning it up in the future. The water looks very grotty and as ever there was plastic garbage floating around on top of the water. You see the locals chucking waste off the back of their fishing boats which is really weird to the Australian psyche.
After a night on the bay, I now know the meaning of the phrase "Slow boat to China". They are small and very cute cruise boats which accommodate about 30 - 40 guests and are built in the style of old world charm with dark wood trims and louvered doors. Our boat was only 10 years old but looked 50 or 60 in a good way. The service and food were terrific. The cruise was utterly relaxing and decadent.
We fished for squid at night which the kids loved. Mr Beach House turned up late, picked up a rod and immediately caught the first squid. There were only 2 caught over the hour. I've always said he was lucky....after all, he got to marry me.... haha.
The ink spillage from the squid all over the water's surface when the poor thing knows it's about to die is confronting, but they went to a good cause because the way they cooked them was really yummy. One wonders though what you are eating considering the quality of the water.
We went with Indochina Sails, which was advertised as luxury, which it was. You have to be careful which boat you choose as there are hundreds of companies all jostling for the tourist dollar and unfortunately the port and Bay are being loved to death. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and was sorry we didn't book for 2 nights.
PS I finally got Hugh to smile for a photo.
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