HA LONG BAY,VIETNAM

We arrived in Ha Long Bay to rain and overcast skies but if you looked carefully in the distance you could see hundreds and hundreds of little island croppings with funny shapes. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. Because of this unique feature of the bay, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were met at the ship by many large Chinese-style motorized junks for our cruise around Ha Long Bay. As we cruised slowly, we could see grottos, caves, secluded coves, huge rock arches, and limestone outcroppings. Many of these islands are named after the animals and the birds they resemble for example, the pair of roosters. The islands would appear in the distance in different shades of grey. It looked somewhat like Guilin, China. We were out on the deck of the junk taking photos as we slowly came to a quiet bay. We landed at the dock and took 100 steps way way up the side of the mountain to Dau Go cave. As we huffed and puffed our way up we would look back down and see gorgeous scenery behind us. It was breath taking. Inside the cave were different lit up stalactites and stalagmites with intriguing formations. As we exited the cave, we were met by some fisherwomen who were trying to sell us their day's catch. We then boarded our junk and were served a wonderful Vietnamese lunch. Doug and I were brave enough to sign up for the kayaking part of this tour. We were pleasantly surprised how easy it was to manoeuvre the two man kayak. We followed our tour guide underneath cave arches into secluded coves. It was so peaceful and quiet with only the sound of birds in the distance. We paddled around the junk for one hour and a half in and out of caves and coves. This was so much fun. We had a great day in Ha Long Bay and we didn't drown. Thank goodness.