Where the dragon decends into the sea: Halong Bay

According to legend Halong Bay was created by a dragon that lived in the mountains. The dragon's flailing tail gouged out valleys as it plunged into the sea. The bay is a UNESCO site and it reminded me a little of Raileh beach in the South of Thailand.

Coming into town from Sapa on the overnight train I managed to burn my leg on the exhaust pipe of the motorbike taxi. It's rather chilly in Hanoi at 6am. I had two hours to kill before heading on a bus to Halong Bay. I watched the city wake up as the streets behind the glass window of my hotel filled up with thousands of motorbikes. Finally a minibus pulled up and the glass door opened to rush me off into the airconditioned tourist bus where I met 16 year old Emma and her dad. The two of us formed a little team along with her dad and another older Dutch couple.

The first night was spent on the boat in the bay. My roommate for the night was a very shy Korean girl who told me that her heart was pounding because this was the first time in her life that she shared a room with a foreigner. All I wanted to do was sleep but she was too excited to let the opportunity to chat with a Westerner in the bed next to her pass her by. I think I fell asleep mid-sentence.
The second day we said goodbye to most of the people on the boat. They were heading back to Hanoi after one night at Halong. The five of us headed to Cat Ba island where we hiked up a steep path to get a nice view over the rolling hills and the water on the island. The afternoon was spent kayaking and swimming on a deserted beach in the bay before sunset.
There's nothing to do on Cat Ba island other than browse the twenty or so pearl dealers on the main strip. Emma went nuts and bought six sets of earrings and necklaces. Her dad invited me to visit them in Brunei where they live. He then let her go out with me on our first night back in Hanoi....A drunk, shoeless Aussie-Vietnamese doctor delivered us to our hotel at 4am from the boat disco that night. Her dad had all sorts of horrible thoughts of his daughter being caught up in the human trafficking business that night. I did ask her if she had a curfew at the beginning of our little adventure. My invitation to visit Brunei has not been revoked. Phew.