My two weeks with Jordie – Part 2/3

We booked a 3 days, 2 nights tour in Ha Long Bay with the first night on a boat and the second night on a tiny island called “Monkey Island”. We were picked up on the first morning and spent the next hours of our trip on a small bus towards Ha Long City. It was another bumpy ride but finally we arrived at the harbour and went onto the boat together with all the other travellers. There were couples from Finland, Russia, Germany, two American girls, 3 Dutchies and a group from Malaysia. First we had lunch on the boat (vegan options were available and although it was nothing special Jordie didn’t eat any meat or fish :)) and then just cruised around Ha Long Bay, enjoyed the view, visited a cave and went kayaking and swimming.

We then had dinner on the boat and spent the early evening on deck with a cocktail, talking to the others. We were very tired though and went to bed pretty early. Because it was quite overcast the whole time, we didn’t bother to get up for the sunrise but just stayed in bed till it was time for breakfast. We then got off the boat at Cat Ba Island and spent another hour on a bus, riding to the other side of the island to get onto yet another boat. And then we arrived at Monkey Island! What a beautiful spot!

A teeny, tiny island with just a beach, a couple of bungalows and the reception area in the middle. We had the cheaper garden view bungalow booked but, as I mentioned in my last post, the girl at the travel agency had a surprise for us: she told the staff on Monkey Island that we’re on our honeymoon so that we would get an upgrade. Until then we didn’t really know what exactly that would mean but when we were led to our bungalow we knew: an amazing view and the cutest decoration on our bed!

First I felt a bit bad for the lie but then I really felt like on a honeymoon. Jordie even carried me over the threshold 😉

After lunch and some quiet time on the beach and in the water, we went for a little hike to the other side of the island. Monkey Island is not called Monkey Island for nothing!

Back on our side of the island we went up another hill to a viewing platform with a 360 degree view. This is such a stunning environment!

 

This was definitely the nicest day of the trip, actually the whole two weeks and probably even the last few months. Too bad it had to end. And also too bad that we had to get up at 7 the next morning to pack our stuff, have brekkie and then get on a boat, a bus, another boat and another bus again to arrive back in Hanoi at around 5 pm.