Up at 7:15am to get ready speedily and down for some breakfast, included in our stay

It’s not overly glamorous but does the job: some egg noodles, toast, eggs, fruit and, of course, coffee

We’re done and ready for 8am, as requested by the guy we booked our tour for today with, though they’re a little late with pick up

When we do get picked up, we’re scooted to the Bến Bèo port and boarded onto a rather large and pretty new-looking boat

We are setting off our trip in Lan Ha Bay and we’ll be taken through Cat Ba’s archipelago as well as into part of Ha Long Bay – we’ve opted for the less crowded route and clearly done well as our group isn’t too large ????

The boat has three floors and we’re straight up to the top to get a good view while we sail past Lang Chai floating fishing village, one of Vietnam’s oldest villages of this kind

The journey to our next activity is about an hour and a half so we continue to enjoy the limestone island viewing from the top deck

We go by more than a handful of Eagles swooping around as well as Egret-looking birds

Our boat drops off a few people we had on board before we pop past Hòn Bút, or pen/candle islet

Next, we make it to where we’ll be kayaking – we’re dropped off at a point in the Cat Ba National Park where we get the kayaks and are able to explore on water

The tide’s very low but we’re still able to paddle through one of the caves (we think Bat Cave), view another (Bright Cave) but the last was only reachable on foot (Dark Cave)

After an hour, we’re back on the boat and head off to a nearby location, in Ha Long Bay, where we’ll be able to swim and have some lunch

It’s probably best you have to jump off the front to get in as the water is pretty nippy – very beautiful though!

A couple jumps in later, we’re starving and they certainly deliver a feast

We’re then taken to the Việt Hải port and are aiming for the village here – this is actually on Cat Ba island but it’s much easier to reach the village from water as there are next to no roads, unless you’re walking

With a bike each, we make the couple kilometre trip to a sleepy farm village, called Tai Lai

Upon arriving, we have a brief stop at a little restaurant here, called Diem Dung NGHI, and are offered a free fish massage – we hate to say no to free stuff so give it a go and it’s fair to say it was quite a tickly experience!

We explore around the town on bike and find a body of water where lots and lots of Eagles are circling

We get back to the restaurant, have a cheeky ice cream and then cycle back to the boat

The ride back is about an hour now so we enjoy the sun and Daisy even has a power nap

Back on land, we’re dropped back around our hotel and it’s nearby one of the other people’s places too and decide to share a beer with them for a little

He’s called Merlin and he’s from Germany but is a full time traveller and has been for many years now

After two beers, we are in need of a shower so head back to have a spritz and then back out to Oasis Bar for some cheeky happy hour beers

We have dinner here too – a spicy chicken stir-fry and a hefty cheeseburger – before the party really kicks off in the place: two whole buses are dropped off and it transforms the venue into a nightclub

We enjoy some black russian cocktails with Merlin and, at the end of the night, Dave has a bahn mi and Daisy a banana pancake before making our way to bed