Halong Bay

Kayaking in Cat Ba National Park. The sundeck and speedo view from our Junk. Oh My Junk! The gorgeous scenery of Halong Bay - it looked like this every direction you turned...1969 islands in the bay! Sucky Pig really enjoyed cruising the bay on the Junk. We have just returned to Hanoi after a 3 day trip to Halong Bay - what absolutely wonderous beauty!!! We spent the first day on a 'junk' boat cruising through the many islands. There are pictures on the Ocean Tours website. Had a gargantuan seafood lunch with lots of fresh steamed shellfish - they served the crabs with the cutest little green quats that were orange inside and super juicy. We also went kayaking arund Cat Ba National Park in the afternoon - really fun and scenic. Had fun swimming too, we jumped off the top of the junk into the bay! Spent the first night on the Junk. The next morning we explored 'Amazing Cave' and then were dropped off at a private island beach resort - we were the only guests there for about 5 hours! Quite the exclusive tour... Had a huge lunch there as well, and then a BBQ dinner on the beach - very fun, lunch was much tastier than dinner. Stayed in a cute bamboo beach bungalow there. Today we cruised back on a different Junk. Before we left for Halong Bay, we had a day and a half to tour about Hanoi. Walked through the various neighborhoods - the French Quarter was particularly fun. Also explored lots of food - suprising I know! Had delicious bun cha (grilled pork with vermicelli noodles and herbs) at a street stall, got charged 2.5 times what the locals did - but did get to watch how they ate it, so that was good! Also had tasty Bahn My Pate (sandwich). Don't worry, we have also been sampling lots of the local beers as well - Halida is the current favorite, and usually only a buck or two! Tonight we are off on the overnight train to Hoi An, we'll be there for a couple of days...