Day 5 - Halong Bay

Some of the floating fishing villages

Ric swimming in the bay, hoping there
were no sharks

After sleeping overnight on the junk,  Ric had a morning swim in the bay - Frances was still too unwell to swim. Medicinal advice plus the application of a Vietnamese massage oil from the guide seemed to help her though.

The boat motored slowly back to Halong, and we spent the time chatting with the guide and other guests along the way while still marveling at the stunning landscape in the Halong Bay.

A relaxing time on board

We had another excellent lunch, the main feature being roast duck, on the way back. We arrived just after midday where the driver helped us get some medicine from a local pharmacy. Although communication was difficult, especially once we moved away from the limited travel vocabulary, but we found everyone pleasant and helpful. 

Another roadside political billboard

The trip back was uneventful except for a truck loaded with cement bags that had a tyre blow out just in front of us! It happened so suddenly that our driver only narrowly missed hitting it.

The connecting flight to our next destination, Hoian, was delayed (as usual). Eventually, following the flight and connecting transport, we arrived at the Ancient House Hotel in central Hoian in the evening, had some biscuits with a G&T and crashed for the night.