Halong Bay

The only bad thing about Halong Bay is the journey there and back. They'll tell you it's a 3 and a half our drive, but it's really about 5, when you account for the bumpy roads, the traffic, the stop at the expensive souvenier shop, and the stop by the policy to make the driver pay a fee for a "safety check"???

Once you arrive, it's as beautiful as all the pictures you've seen. We spent the night at the Viethouse Lodge, a very rustic, quiet and secluded place on an island. It's the same island Augie and I stayed on 11 years ago, but back then we had to take a ferry to get here. Now they have a beautiful bridge.

The next morning after breakfast, we boarded our boat for our 7 hour tour. Although it was overcast, the mountains that rise up from the sea so majestically were still beautiful. The fog (Beverly still insists it's more smog) adds an eerie feeling to the view, almost like looking at a black and white photo. The mountains appear to be overlapping each other, in varying shades of blues and grays.

We stopped at two huge caves, the first we entered a bay that was so crowded with junks that it looked like Lake Havasu on the 4th of July. When we entered the cave, it was so full of tourists that they looked like an invasion of ants.

Oops! I was just told that we have to run to catch our transfer to the airport. We're off to Danang and Hoi An. More later...Pictures to follow...