We took a bus trip from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island.  There was three bus rides and a ferry transfer and then you could start to see the serious geographical transformations change. The majority of the hills were covered in thick green scrub and the island itself densely forested. The Ha Long Bay is famous for its beautiful rock formation islands. literally: descending dragon bay  is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a popular travel destination, It was the off peak season being in there winter but there was something quite magical about it.one of the good reasons being that we didn’t have streams of tourists., Cat Ba town itself was a somewhat hotel after hotel, and restaurants all waiting for the peak season tourists.there was as well a thriving groups of towns and communities all living throughout this area. The hotel i think we had completely to ourselves and i found this great for practicing music..no people around. The island was so intricately woven together there was this ever presence that there was as much going on off the water as there was on. there was this continual stream of bustling boats that would be going on there business everyday. there were heaps of boats on the main area. and they were all painted practically the same colour.

We decided to give kayaking a go and were able to get a amazing view point into how the other side of Cat Ba was working, the people had made these floating houses  come fish farms nestled around these massive islands. there was a kind of a suburb going on and the further we went the less they become. I must admit it was incredible to think that these people lived out here all the time, they had pets out there like there dogs , that was weird. there were sprawling suburbs of people doing there thing. There were cement boats!. ones with foam as insides. i might be guessing that it wouldn’t be going to fast.