Boatpeople

Silence, total silence. Night on the deck of the Carmelia. Everyone is asleep. What a contrast to Hanoi.

It was a very relaxed trip with two Spaniards, two Indian women and incredible six Germans in the middle of Halong Bay, about four hours east of Hanoi. A very colorful mix of boatpeople, from the couple who gave up everything with a one-way ticket to the hyper-correct workaholic, who was always on the go in a correctly ironed shirt and colorful pleated pants. Even when kayaking. Very funny.

Interestingly, I was the 'grandpa' of the random community.

The landscape is sometimes surreal on winter days. If elves and wizards had suddenly appeared around the corner, no one would have been surprised. I think there are around 2,000 smaller and larger hills that have gathered in the entire Halong Bay. Very, very nice.

Our program: eating, kayaking, eating, swimming, eating, relaxing, eating .... and eating. Vietnamese people always seem to have to eat.

Cool group, a mix of English, Basque, Vietnamese and German. The bay has a very relaxed atmosphere, and the monkeys living there have a perfectly balanced work-life balance .... they do nothing all day. Sometimes even less ....

Now back to Hanoi, then off to Ninh Binh tomorrow morning ....