Day 14

 

We all slept like babies after our day in Hanoi. Our transfer from the dock to the dock was waiting for us as we exited the ship. It was a 20 minute ride to the other side of the island where we met a group from Hanoi who shared our boat. Robert,our guide, was the most amazing guide this trip. He was easy to understand, full of knowledge and desire to share his culture and country with us.

Halong Bay is a series of over 100 islands that formed under the sea and split apart. The most common theory is that the layers of the earth shifted causing the islands to split apart.

As we traveled into the bay we were treated to an incredible Vietnamese lunch. The courses just kept on coming. See Rita's food dump.

Kayaking and bamboo boats were available at our first stop. We opted to visit with Robert and learn about the Bay. There were local people who lived in boats on the bay. A floating school was located on a dock in the bay. Each day the teacher was transported by boat from the mainland to the school. The government wanted to preserve the bay so the people were moved to the mainland.

We went up steps from the boat to the cave it was so steep with tiny steps that it felt kike we were scaling the wall. We continued to climb hundreds of steps to get to the entrance of the cave. Robert admited that he lied about the number of steps because he knew that this was something that we should not miss. He was right about seeing this Unesco World Heritage Site. I will post many pictures from inside of the cave. Once in the cave we continued to climb to three section of this massive wonder. Words wil not do it justice so I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

A 15 minute cruise across the bay took us back to our starting point.

Our driver was there within minutes to take us back to the ship. Along the way we stopped to spend the rest of our Dongs.

TIme for the Frankie Valli show and dinner.

Tomorrow is our last sea day and an opportunity to tour the galley of the ship. Our big challenge is going to be fitting ecerything into our suitcases. Wish us luck!!!