Friday, February 6, 2015

Ha Long Bay

Using Hanoi as a base, we took a 2 night 3 day cruise excursion to Ha Long Bay, or bay of the descending dragon, named as such for the limestone karst mountains scattered throughout  the terrain.


Though it was only in the low 70s, we enjoyed two days of kayaking

Including  opportunities  to kayak through  caves

Here we are in the dark and light caves

Our boat was called the Lemon Cruise, and despite what it looks like on the outside and its name, it was actually quite comfortable 

Here you can see our shuttle boat, this skiff took us out to the boat and on several excursions 


The karst mountains  are being slowly eroded by the sea. It's fun to kayak under the shelf that is created by the erosion.

Also, if you forgot to pack anything on the boat, there are women rowing around on these skiffs selling Oreos, vodka, and cigarettes.

Some of the mountains  are hollow, creating several caves that you can visit. Here's the "surprising" cave's surprise.  

Another photo of us in the surprising, real name Hang Sot, cave. This is the 3rd continent on which we've  gone caving.


The view from a beach hike we did, you can  get a better sense of how expansive these bay mountains are.

Lastly, here's  our delightfully  comfortable cabin. This was the first time either Jim or I had slept on a boat. It took us a few days back on shore before we didn't feel the swell of the bay anymore.




No comments:

Post a Comment