Cruising Halong Bay

There is not a travel brochure of Vietnam that does not have a picture of Halong Bay. More than 1,960 islets, formed over 500 million years, dot Tonkin Bay.

So, we are off on a two day/one night cruise to that UNESCO World Heritage site:

Our Junk for the Halong Bay experience





10,000 visitors a day make the three hour journey to the karsts, which mainly consist of limestone. Some appear to be made for rock climbing, while others harbour both wet and dry caves. Although boat traffic is heavy, there are enough quiet corners to anchor the vessels and transfer to smaller boats and then to even smaller crafts and kayaks to explore the surroundings.

The day started misty and foggy. We had small showers during the day, but a calm and warm evening and night. The mist added an eerie feeling as we glided among the islands..........



Steaming into Halong Bay

Aren't you getting tired seeing us in the same old clothes?



A floating fishing village

  


Helen getting ready for the 'wet' cave



On day two, we visited Sung Dot, a large cavern within one of the karsts. It could not compete with the Paradise cave at  Phong Nha National Park of course, but was good to experience nevertheless....

 

In the warm evening, we sat on deck with a Pina Colada and watched other boats come in and anchor for the night.....



.....and the next morning we sailed back to the marina and Hanoi.What a wonderful two day experience!!



And we are off by night sleeper train to Sapa, the northern most point in Vietnam, close to the Chinese border for a four night stay and some trekking. Hopefully we will be fit enough.....