Off to an early start on Nov.8 as a minibus picked us up from our hotel in Hanoi to drive us to Halong Bay. Five hours later, on less than great roads, we arrived. A small boat met us and transported us to our "Junk", which is small cruise boat (about 16 cabins). Quite comfortable with a great deal of wood throughout. Halong Bay is a unique and quite beautiful landscape. It is over 1600 sq. kms. and consists of nearly 2000 islands. It is a recognized world heritage site. The limestone islands jut out of the sea straight up, some well over several hundred metres and create dozens of coves. (It is difficult to describe; see the photos.) We took a smaller boat to a fishing village consisting totally of small floating homes. Some of the guests took kayaks while others were taken on bamboo boats rowed by a local. We explored a number of coves and rowed through a cave into a secluded area completely surrounded by these massive rocks. Returned to the boat for a great dinner.

The next morning (Nov. 9) we continued exploring the area including a large cave complex. Interesting, but not dissimilar to many other caves in the world that feature plenty of stalagmites and stalactites. Left the boat at noon for the return trip to Hanoi. Tomorrow we fly to central Vietnam (Danang, Hoi An, Hue)