We left Hanoi in the morning to drive to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is not far from Hanoi but it will take a few hours to get there (traffic jams are quite common). About 30 minutes from our destination a large truck rammed the left side of our car at low speed. Nobody was wounded but the car was damaged severely. Our agent took care of the matter and arranged a ride for us (actually we just pulled over a small tourist van which had some room left). Now we needed to hurry up because the boats in Halong Bay will not delay their departure for more than 30 minutes. Luckily we were not the last ones to arrive at the boat.

We did not spend any time in the city of Halong Bay because we went on a two-day cruise on a traditonal Junk. In Halong Bay this is the best way to explore and enjoy the area. The landscape is defined by the Karst mountains which run into the ocean at the Vietnamese coast. The effect is many very steep islands with a lot of caves en beautiful formations. The views are stunning especially during twilight. The accommodation on the boat was really good and the traditional meals were excellent. During this trip we visited one of the caves, enjoyed swimming and did a small boatrip to a hidden bassin. After the two days we returned to Hanoi and took a train to Sapa.