Back for the night market

Saturday 30 November

The next day woke to full sunshine and the boat got underway at 6.30.

 We were on our way to the Surprising Cave. This was, for me, a bit of a waste of time. There are three caves of increasing size but they were completely dry and so the stalagmites and stalagtites did not seem that impressive. However the size of the caves, particularly the largest, certainly, was. Unfortunately, the love of the Vietnamese for trying to spot figures in the stalagmites – that’s the turtle; there are a pair of legs; (and I'll leave you to visit the cave to see why it is called surprising) got a bit tedious. As did the absolute army of tourists passing through. It really was a sausage machine process. It's the paradox of mass tourism that it risks destroying the very objects that it seeks to enjoy.

That done, we rejoined Carina and set sail for Halong Harbour, getting there at about midday again. The journey back to Hanoi had a relatively sane driver but it is a dreary journey along a busy and dusty road, built up for much of the way. The road is being developed but still will go slap bang through the centre of towns on the way. Bypasses don’t seem on the agenda.

I’m very glad I saw Halong Bay. Next time, I think I’d get the train and go to CatBa. I have since been recommended a hotel there.

That evening was incredible. It’s the night market in the old town and there is an avalanche of people who come into town. The streets used for the market become pedestrianised and at their entrance enterprising souls create scooter parks, charging people for parking there. All around the lake there are groups of people enjoying themselves and one area seems to be where people bring their doggies to sniff each others bottoms. All good fun.