Oh Sh**!

The day had come for our trip to Halong. We dragged ourselves out of bed at 6am and wandered down stairs with our backpacks. The main backpacks were going to be stored in the hotel and the day sacks had overnight things in them. We also had a fresh disposable camera and the video camera ready for recording the sights of Halong Bay.

Halong Bay is another UNESCO World Heritage site, which contains a couple of thousand tiny islands and makes up a beautiful landscape. It was probably going to be the highlight (in landscape terms) of our Vietnam trip. Sitting on the bus on the way to the port where we were going to pick up the boat, Heather and Ihad the following exchange:
"Where's the video camera?"
"In your backpack"
"No, there's no space for it, I had to wear it. I took it off when I went to check my emails"
It dawned on us that wherever it was, it certainly wasn't on our person nor on the bus. Using my mobile, I tried making a number of frantic phone calls (including bugging my mate Mike in Australia), in a desperate attempt to get the hotel's contact details (we had been moved and the details we had were for the old one, which were wrong anyway). We went as far as roping in the help of tour guide - eventually we just had to write it off, hoping that the insurance would cover it.

We arrived on the boat and started the trip in to the bay of Halong. The landscape was truly beautiful, the waters were clear and sun was beating down. It was just a pity that the only means of recording it was a useless disposable camera!

While on the boat, we did meet a number of other couples whom we were able to strike up conversations with. One couple from Melbourne who were on honeymoon, took pity on our plight and videoed some footage of us and have promised to email it to us. There are nice people everywhere

At one point, the boat stopped and allowed us to either swim in the bay or rent a canoe for $2 and canoe around some of it. Being the cheapskates that we are, we took the swimming option - although we were a little too close to a floating village for my liking and there seemed to be an awful lot on the surface. We made sure to swim with our mouths shut!

At night, the boat moored up again and served us dinner. After, that it was lying under the stars (or at least it would have been had it not been for the clouds), drinking the booze we had smuggled on board (rather than having to pay on board prices). When it came time to turn in, it transpired that not only did we not have air conditioning, the electricity was turned off so the fan couldn't be used - that bloody tour agent lied to us!

In an attempt to keep cool, we slept with the window open but that exposed us to mosquitoes. As always, Heather avoided being bitten whereas my legs was an attractive shade of red and covered in bumps. Fortunately, malaria carrying mozzies don't hang out in the sea.

The following day it was a slow cruise back to port, and a bus ride back to the hotel.