Breakfast was from 7-8 the next morning, followed by a trek on one of the islands in the bay. We took the small boat to one of the islands (the Australian man just jumped off the roof of the boat and swam to the island instead). There was a beach with a dog running around. It was beautiful! I walked around taking pictures for a little while before starting up the trail. The trail began with a steep staircase, but then turned into a dirt trail. It was a fairly easy and short hike. I was the second to the top because I stopped to take a lot of pictures. It took me about ten minutes to reach the top.
We had an hour to spend on the island, so I walked back down and sat on the staircase railing so I could just stare into the distance for a little while. It was a little foggy, so I could not see too far, but the islands were gorgeous anyway.
When we got back to the boat we checked out of our room and went to the dining room. We saw the Fighting Chickens (a formation where two of the islands look like chickens that are fighting. Not really a complicated explanation) and then went to our cooking class where Jeremy, our guide, taught us how to make spring rolls. They tasted amazing!
Our trip was scheduled to return to Hanoi by 5pm, so we ate lunch and returned to the small boat that would take us back to the shore where the bus was waiting for us. I spent the ride back reading the 100pg play that I had to finish for one of my classes. We stopped at a shop once more. There were a bunch of SAS students there on a Global Citizens trip. We were some of the only ones who had gotten there independently, though I thought it had been pretty simple to get there.
The bus dropped us off at a hotel called the Rising Dragon. We had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 7pm, so we had some time to find a place to eat dinner before our flight back to Ho Chi Min City. A woman who worked at the hotel told us that pick pocketing was common in Hanoi and let us leave a bag at the hotel so we could walk around freely. We walked up and down the streets for a while before finding a restaurant that had a balcony overlooking the street. It was a really good location for a restaurant, although we had to walk down an alley (well lit!) to get there.
We ate and then headed back to the hotel. Our taxi driver arrived on time and took us straight to the airport. The airport was crawling with SAS students. Not literally, they were all walking normally as far as I saw. Sam was at the airport not long after we had arrived. She had stayed in a hostel in Hanoi and spent some time talking with people and walking around the city.
The plane landed at midnight and we reached the ship at 1am.
Ever since watching an episode of Top Gear where they went to Viet Nam I had been wanting to go to Ha Long Bay. I was very glad to get to visit and hopefully I can go back some day and explore it some more when I have more time.
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