Feb 1st Ha Long to Hanoi

Feb 1^st Ha Long to Hanoi

Woke up this morning to see islands drifting passed, very surreal. Having decided to pass on the Tai Chi class on the sun deck at 06:15 we went for the more leisurely continental breakfast after 07:00. After this we were on the transfer to see Surprise Cave. It had been listed as 715 steps, which didn’t sound like too much fun in one go. The reality was the approach to the caves involved an initial step climb of nearer 250 steps, then some down into the cave. We entered the caves accompanied by Ms Huang a lovely petite member of the crew who spoke good English. Our first impression was one of surprise as we entered a well lit cave. It appears to be quite a small cave albeit with a high ceiling and stalagmites and stalactites. It also contains a fresh water pool that is fed from rainwater. On the far side of the cave it is possible to slip through a narrow passage into another cave. This entry has been blocked off since a tourist got stuck and another way around has been made. This next cave is immense and can only be compared to a large theatre. Our guide pointed out various rocks that formed images of animals and birds. She then pointed to a formation that was bathed in red light and asked what we thought it could be. We replied that we had no idea, (and of course knowing exactly what we thought), before she suggested a finger pointing to the sky. “Oh, yes we see it now” we lied. Later we discovered that it’s called “”Phallus rock” which was closer to our first (unspoken) guess. 

Our little group of 4 had become removed from the main groups and it was wonderful to have the cave almost to ourselves as we strolled around this huge cavern with Ms. Huang pointing out images and telling us stories about the cave. Apparently the cave has been occupied over time, mainly by fishermen either as a stopover or for shelter during typhoons.

We returned to the boat to vacate our cabins and pay any outstanding bills before having brunch on our way back to Tuan Chau marina. Here we were met by Quang and Truang and starting heading back to Hanoi. A long the way Tamsin and Kim wanted photos of fields of produce, people carrying kumquat trees on bikes, or come to it anything being transported on bikes, motorcycles, trailers etc..

Arriving back at our hotel we opted for rooms at the back of the hotel as we wanted to be away from the hustle and bustle. They all thought this strange as we could have a view at the front of the hotel - err, what view is that, the one of the run down hotel opposite, or the multitude of motorcycles, or hawkers plying their wares up an down the street.

We went out as we wanted to buy some cards and to have an explore of some of the streets our rickshaw had taken us down a few days earlier. Tamsin wanted to have a look at some fruit that we suspect was known to us as "Buddha fingers". The stores all had interesting and various different wares. At one point we stopped to take a picture of a lady carrying fruit on a pole. She seized the moment and put the pole on Kims shoulders whilst putting a bag of fruit into her hands - clever. We took some pictures and paid over the odds for the fruit (probably by all of a dollar).