Amazing HaLong Bay

The third day was probably my favorite day. First of all, we got to sleep in and breakfast was provided for us--what more could a mother of seven on vacation ask for? Then we loaded onto a boat called a junk and headed out to sea. The five hour cruise took us exploring through HaLong Bay. It was unlike any other place I have ever been in my life--and I've been a lot of places! It was breathtakingly beautiful. The only drawback was that there was a lot of thick smog that washed out a lot of my photos and definitely dulled the colors we could have seen otherwise.

There were a lot of tourists. Generally, I try to avoid the tourist traps and find off the beaten path places to visit, but the tour was already planned for us. There were a lot of boats in the bay all playing bumper boats. There were times when another giant boat would drive right into us and then bump off and head a different direction.

At our first stop, we hiked up the side of a mountain into a giant cave. I was a typical cave, but now I can say I've been caving in Vietnam (if you count walking down a path with two hundred other people as caving).

As we cruised through the bay, people would come up to the boat on their little hooptie boats and try to sell us stuff. This lady had two small children and they climbed off of their little boat, onto the sides of our boat to try and sell us fruit. They even had their three year old trying to sell in a different window. I find moments like this a wake up call to gratitude and to a recognition that where much is given much is required in life. These people own a barely-floating boat where they live and sell fruit to foreigners, and that's all they know. And then there's our lifestyle. . . it makes me ask myself. . . what am doing to make a difference with all that I've been given?

This, below, is known as Kissing Rock and it is the most famous part of HaLong Bay. It was really cool to see. Right as we passed it, a man and his little boy rowed a little canoe right between the rocks.

Our second stop was another steep hike up one of the mountains to a vista point. Incredible!!

We wanted to swim at the beach, but our tour guide rushed us back onto the boat.

Finally, after our cruise we went back to our hotel where I went for a swim, followed by dinner and then we spent several hours shopping for souvenirs--my favorite thing to do. We finished the night off by walking down the pier and getting ice cream. Loved every minute of this day!