A cruise on Halong Bay is an essential part of any visit to northern Vietnam, claimed our itinerary. Similar statements must be made in every guide to the country, because when we arrived at the embarkation point we felt as if we'd a entered a tourist mill where we'd be sucked in, processed and churned out a day later.
However, we were soon led through the throngs towards the junk-style boat that would be our home for the next 24 hours.
After inspecting our cute, wood-panelled cabin, we hastened upstairs to the spacious sundeck, eager to see how the crew would extricate us from the tangle of boats. Miraculously, it happened without a fuss and we were soon floating towards Halong Bay, often described as one of the greatest wonders of Asia.
Soon after casting off we were invited to lunch, which consisted of whole crab, fresh prawns, melt-in-your mouth fish and an unrecognisable but tasty Vietnamese dessert. Oh, and did I mention French wine?
Thus sated, we retired to the deckchairs to watch the panorama of Halong Bay unfold. This Unesco World Heritage site consists of around 3000 precipitous limestone islands jutting out of the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. The name translates loosely as "place of the descending dragon" and legend says that the islands were hewn from the seabed by the thrashing tail of a dragon.
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