Our alarm shocked us out of a sound sleep, but we were packed and at the Golden Sun hotel by 8:00 am where we met up with several other travellers. Our overnight tour to Halong Bay awaited and we were full of high hopes.

The minibus was comfortable and we'd only taken small backpacks for this short excursion, so everyone had room to enjoy the lush Vietnam landscape. The trip took about 4 hours with a bathroom / shopping break included at a craft market, where we met up with the South Africaners again. They were on a similar trip except they were going to sleep on a junk while we would be on shore in bungalows. Both tours sounded great.

When we arrived in Halong Bay, we transferred out to our junk, a lovely boat with a beautiful dining room and an upper deck for enjoying the scenery. At first, we were a little disappointed. There seems to be a perpetual haze hanging over all of Vietnam. We couldn't see anything very clearly and we worried that the whole trip would be like that.

As we cleared the bay and neared some of the rock islands, our fears disappeared and the haze did, too. The scenery was breathtaking, each island unique and eye catching. In the Gulf of Tonkin, there are some 3000 islands and we sailed through and around many of them. After sailing a short time we were called down for a lovely lunch, with several strange but tasty dishes, including squid, shrimp and various vegetables. We enjoyed the meal very much and then went back up on deck to enjoy the day.

Soon, we entered a bay with a floating village (people live on the water because they aren't allowed to live on the islands and pollute them - we wondered where all their pollution goes then…the water?). We docked at the end of the bay and had a tour of the "Amazing Caves", so called because they are…amazing! Our guide was a lot of fun and pointed out all of the formations that look like animals, Buddhas, etc., so that made it even more fun for the kids.

When we arrived at our destination for the night, the sun was just setting. We disembarked and enjoyed a welcome drink at the beachside, open-air restaurant while the kids played on the beach, alternating between volleyball and soccer. During our voyage over, we'd met up with another family that had been travelling for much longer than we had. Alistair and Rowena were 9 and 10 and very outgoing, so Connor and Tessa had no problem hanging out with them because a.) They were kids and b.) They had a lot in common! Their parents, Lucy and Greg, were also easy to talk to, so the evening passed quickly while we enjoyed a great meal and great conversation to the accompaniment of the sound of waves on the beach. Later, we retired to our luxurious beach bungalows. We could get used to Vietnam very easily!