Halong Bay

After a wonderful few days in Cambodia, we headed to Hanoi for a day (see previous post 'Nam for details). I could only take the craziness of what must be the moped capital of the world, so it was time for some R & R on the coast in Halong Bay.

After boarding our Junk (photos below) we set sail and shortly ended up amidst many other Junks in a "tourist site" where we took a dinghy to view the labyrinth of caves.

After spelunking for a bit, we did some kayaking. No, this is not us below, but two of the many vendors who would come alongside our boat and offer us various snacks and drinks.

That afternoon we had the choice of if we wanted to go to a beach or stay at the boat and swim. With the allure of jumping from high places, is there any doubt that I stayed on the boat?!!!

John, a British guy on our trip (pictured above), and I were ALL OVER jumping from the 3rd story of our Junk. FUN TIMES!

The following morning we headed over to Cat Ba National Park. We went on a serious hike - not for the faint of heart - steep, humid, and lots of "off trailing".

But, the view from the top was certainly worth the hard work!

After such a strenuous morning, in the afternoon we headed to Monkey Island for some relaxing on the beach.

Properly named as many monkeys were roaming around...

After Halong Bay it was back to Ho Chi Minh for a day before heading back to the States. Great vacation, only complaint (which is a common one) is that it was too short!!!

For all the pictures, click here!