Halong Bay I

I woke up in the morning and got ushered on to a minivan that drove us to where a good majority of the tourists in North Vietnam were also waiting to get onto their junk boat. There were to be 10 of us on our boat. A pair of Canadian friends, 2 lone Englishmen, A Spanish/Japanese couple, 2 Danish sisters, a lone Swede, and myself. Prices were compared. A substantial difference was noted. For anyone going to Vietnam, do shop around before signing up for a tour. Our Swede paid more than double what we paid for the same tour.

Our first stop were to some glorious cave called "Suprise Cave". Guides were happy to point out images once could see in the rocks with a bit of imagination, including a very phallic stalagmite - the "suprise", perhaps? The caverns were huge and were it not for the hoards of people, gaudy colored lights, and the feeling of being herded like sheep, it would have had a very Lord of the Rings. From there we jumped on some kayaks where me and my kayak partner jammed ourselves into little nooks and crannies in the karst islands.

From there we retired to the boat were my fellow passengers jumped into the water from the boat. The wind was a bit too crisp for my tastes. Bowed out and took pictures instead. The prices on the boat were exorbitant and me and my kayak partner snuck on a bottle of vodka. He made better work of it than I did which he suffered greatly for the next day.