“I’m on a Boat”

We boarded our Junk, a.k.a. tourist version of Chinese sailing vessels, for a 3 day tour of the World Heritage Site Halong Bay. Halong Bay, literally translated as “Bay of Descending Dragon,” is home to 1,969 limestone islands jutting above the horizon. It wasn’t until the 19th century that these islands were officially marked as Halong Bay; however, that hasn’t prevented them from gaining international recognition.

We were greatly surprised when our room actually looked like the pictures shown to us on the brochure. It was a private en-suite room with all the bells and whistle including our very own window view of the magnificent scenery. The boat can carry 16 passengers; however, it was only us and a group of 5 Aussies for this tour.

We spent our day cruising around the Karsts with a stop at the Amazing Cave. Although a major tourist trap, the cave was quite impressive. There were numerous rooms that were lit with all kinds of color. We know what you’re thinking, lit up in all its glory, but the non-perverted see it as a “finger” pointing the way out of the “cave.” But that didn’t stop the giggles echoing through the cave.

As the day came to an end we climbed one of the karsts to enjoy the sunset across the bay. It was nice to see the sun as it has been overcast our entire time in Vietnam, which is normal throughout winter. Later, Jason challenged our guide to several games of XiangQi, Chinese Chess. Things look pretty tense in the shot, but everyone had a good time. When the dust settled Kane was champion, 2 to 1.

Our last day was spent kayaking around Cat Ba Island, navigating our way through the floating villages and fish farms. That night we had a nice hotel overlooking one of the largest fishing villages in the area. The town wasn’t much to get excited about; however, we did enjoy the happy hour one of the local bars and we couldn’t complain about three large Saigon beers for USD$2.