Not Too Long in HaLong 

The most extravagant of our accommodations, for our entire trip, was on the Prince III Junk out of HaLong Bay.  We travelled to Bai Tu Long Bay on the east side of HaLong Bay.  The entire area is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and once you see it you understand why, it is awesome.  Like the Grand Canyon, it’s not possible for pictures to demonstrate the natural beauty.

The small boat accommodates 8 passengers in 4 cabins and came with a crew of 7.  The crew did a fantastic job making sure the passengers were comfortable.  Although drinks were not included and our bill at the end of 3 days was $3,ooo,000….fortunately in Vietnamese Dong!  That was a first!

We made new friends who were all very interesting and enjoyable to hang with: Gephart and Emily from Germany, Mick and Jackie from Australia and Patrick and Allison from Maine (the newlyweds-the other 2 couples had been married for 32 years, just like us, weird huh?).  

 We toured a few of the 1,963 islands making up the archipelago.  Many of the islands have huge natural caverns inside but because of the steep banks most are out of reach but we did get to go through one, Paradise cavern.   We also toured a local floating fishing village, kayaked and had a great lunch on a deserted island.

Now back to the reality of $20 per night rooms with two course meals………