Bird’s Nest Bevarage – 25% bird’s nest

It was back to Hanoi for a few days after Halong Bay. ruth and I spent our last days together shopping for xmas items for my family which she was to take home, recording a small xmas day video message for my family, and exploring the bars and clubs on offer and having a last few nights.

And then it was time for me to leave for China and say goodbye to southeast asia after a brilliant six months, and goodbye to Ruth who was the best travel partner i could have wished for (who else would stroke my arm to get me off to sleep when i asked?!) and was jetting off to Thailand for a little taste of the south islands before heading home.

On a side note – Vietnamese drivers are possibly the worst i had yet encountered. The horn is used very strictly in Vietnam, only for the following situations:

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Halong Bay was our last stop in Vietnam, and yet another UNESCO world heritage centre, this time natural rather than cultural or historic.

A tour bus took us the 165km from Hanoi to the bay. Halong is one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations and a natural wonder of the world – often touted as the eight wonder by proud Vietnamese.

The bay is situated in the Gulf Of Tonkin and consists of a dense cluster of nearly 2000 limestone monoliths, pillars, islands and tiny islets, which rise spectacularly from the ocean and are topped with lush, verdant jungle vegetation.

It is a stunning seascape, providing one of the locales for the James Bond film ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. The limestone formations are range from the bizarre to the awesome. Many have corroded bases and appear to float on thin air. Others are unsually shaped, resembling animals, people or structures, such as Choi Islet (fighting cock), Voi Islet (elephant) and Mai Nha Islet (roof).

We were booked onto a three day, two night tour.

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