Backdate: Hanoi trip Day 5

10/6/16 Sun: Rise and shine! Bought 2 breads (VND 20,000)each before departing on our Halong Bay van ride which will take us 4hrs' to reach Halong Bay itself for the cruise. Stopped over at a factory whr they hand-weave paintings. It was beautiful but too ex.

We reached the harbour at noon, and hopped onto the boat not long aft for our half-day tour! *Technically only 4hrs at Halong Bay itself cos it takes us another 4hrs to take the bus back...*

I liked our lunch which was served almost immediately, esp the spicy cucumbers woohoo. Admired the beauty of Halong Bay, one of the natural wonders of the world, which resembles a much-bigger version of SG's小桂林imo haha.

Got down for 30mins of kayaking. Jess and I paired up cos LL chose to join the bamboo rafting group instead. I was a lil' nervous cos I can't swim, but I rmb kayaking back in Sec 3 wasn't difficult, and the trainer told us "99% can't flip in kayaking"... dunno true or nt but it definitely made me gain confidence while kayaking back then! 
We can't go far due to time constraint, and while I was busy taking photos, Jess had to keep moving the paddle lor haha. Anyw, my pouch dropped onto the waters while I was getting up, but phew I saw it in time before it drifted away... but the notes inside were alrdy wet.

Our next stop was Hang Dau Go, coined the "heavenly cave". Climbed one long flight of stairs up inside the cave and they hav got all the colourful light installations inside which were beautiful. Cooling in thr too.

According to beliefs, the caves were once pearls from from the Dragon God. We reached the top and took a photo.

Bade farewell to Halong Bay aft tat, and took the cruise back to the harbour. The sunset was stunning along the way too.

*Sat like a boss on the van ride back keke~* We made do with simple chicken pho dinner nearby our hotel, and it's only VND 30,000 per bowl la! The chicken tasted more like duck to me though lol.