After less than 24hrs in Hanoi, we said a brief goodbye to the city and started a 2.5hr drive east to the famous Halong Bay.
On the way we stopped at a charity backed by Intrepid that recycles old plastic and denim and turns them into bags and clothes.
The employee at the recycling charity are all retired women who were keen to keep working and make use of their handicraft skills.
After a short presentation, we were all treated to a free bag with a few purchasing other up-cycled items.
After arriving in Halong Bay we took a short ferry ride to our boat for the next 36hrs as we toured around the 1,969 islands that make up this beautiful and otherworldly place.
The landscape is stunning with steep small limestone islands created from seismic activity millions of years ago. Rumour has it that James Cameron was inspired to create the Avatar movie world after visiting the area.
Due to the limestone rock, the erosion has created numerous caves across the small islands, a couple of which we plan to visit tomorrow.
As we toured around the islands, we can across a whole range of boats, some small and traditional and also some Uber large vessels that carry around the wealthy Chinese tourists.
After mooring up, we had a fantastic lunch looking out across this amazing backdrop.
There were a mix of sandy coves, grottoes ever changing by the erosion from the wind and rain.
@travellingwiththeateam 