Halong Bay

Tuesday the 21st of January: Julia and me were picked up for the Halong Bay tour at our hostel. After a 3 hour bus drive, the weather didn't seem to improve as we reached the bay. It was foggy and not very warm. So the first views of the iconic lime stone islands were a bit grey. It was still beautiful. We visited some caves and went to a viewpoint, which was very nice. Lunch was provided on the boat and our guide gave us interesting information about the region and the culture of the people living there. I must say, I was a bit sceptical about the tour as I had heard, that most of them are very touristy and they try to sell you stuff all of the time. Our tour was better then expected. The information was interesting and the selling attempts were few and not too pushy. I can recommend We Go Halong Day Cuises. After we did a short bamboo boat ride, the sun finally peaked out between the clouds and bathed the bay in a warm light. A nice ending to our day. After we got back to Hanoi, we boarded the next bus for our night ride to Sapa.