Luxury cruising through the stunning Halong Bay, swimming in turquoise waters, lazing on island beaches, kayaking through caves, cocktails on deck - for me anyway - and amazing 6 course meals.... such has been our lot for the last few days. It's a hard life!


As north Vietnam is our last stop in what have been an incredible six months in SE Asia, we decided to treat ourselves to a bit of luxury and see Halong Bay in style. A decision we did not regret. Our three days cruising with Indochina Sails around the beautiful Halong Bay were perfect - a memorable experience and a definite highlight of the trip. Luca loved every minute of it and joined in every activity - from captaining the ship, to jumping off the boat for a swim, to owl spotting in caves and even kayaking. His energy never ceases to amaze.





From Halong Bay, we returned to Hanoi for a brief 24 hours, then headed to Sapa on the overnight train. Again we decided to spoil ourselves with a few luxurious nights in Topas Ecolodge, a peaceful bungalow resort set amidst the misty, ethereally beautiful rice terraces. But, a rice liquor awaits me, so more on Sapa anon....