Day 7–Halong Bay

We departed my favorite hotel early as we had quite the journey to our next destination—Halong Bay. Located in the Gulf of Tonkin, Ha Long Bay has been recognized twice by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It has 1,969 islands and inlets with only 989 being officially named. Maybe it would be fun to name the other islands.

Translated, Halong means “Descending Dragon.” According to legend a dragon and her children descended from heaven to help defend the land from invaders. Jade and pearls spilt by the dragons became the islands and islets. Once the war had been won, the mother dragon settled in Halong Bay, and her children settled in Bai Tu Long.

In reality, Halong Bay served as a great defense for the Vietnamese mainland during the Vietnam War. Imagine foreign troops navigating through the thousands of islands while the local Vietnamese people were able to store weapons and soldiers throughout.

Our tour included one night on a cruise ship in Lan Ha Bay. In order to get there, we took a junk boat to the ship. Our luggage rode outside while we spent about 45 minutes admiring and talking about the beautiful islands.

We also learned about our fellow passengers. We shared this adventure with Australians, Germans, one other American, French, and Chileans. I loved the variety!

The junk boat hooked up to the back of our boat, we switched vessels and went to our rooms. Each room had a small living space with a nice sizes bedroom and a balcony.

Corell and I settled in then went to the top of the deck for a photo shoot with the others.

During our lunch we received both the itinerary and safety briefing. The food and fellowship hit the spot. Then we began our cave visit.

We boarded a boat with only one person to paddle us, and we began to explore the bay. We saw houseboats used by the local people, and we also saw some great wildlife. In our case we saw bats and a kite (the bird). We knew kayaking would be the next day’s activity, so Blake and I decided to pair up. He knew I wanted to see the bats again, so he promised to paddle while I took photos in the cave. Sadly, a small trauma and a different route kept us from returning to that spot.

Our next adventure included swimming out the stern of the boat. The crew set up a kiddie pool, and we enjoyed that while we also swam in the open waters. The water felt delightfully warm, and I enjoyed seeing everyone together.

Swimming concluded and then we had a cooking contest. Our ship’s director wanted to teach us how to make spring rolls. He threw in the ingredients (I’d love to tell them to you but I didn’t write it down). However, we did have a contest to see who could win the spring roll winning contest. And the winners were…a German man, Corell, and me! We won a beer which I promptly gave to Blake. The winning was all I needed!

The evening ended with dinner and an optional karaoke or squid fishing activity. I walked in to the karaoke event and stayed for hours. Corell had gone for a massage, so I waited for her, so we could return to the room.

In the meantime I enjoyed a little good hearted singing. At first just Kirsten, Andy, and I dominated the microphone. However, the reinforcements came as others joined. Kevin, adeptly chose songs in each person’s language. I loved the camaraderie within the room.

As most people know, I love people. To have a young teenage boy come talk to me made my night. Ian was there with his family which consisted of a Chilean mom, a German dad, and his sister.

He fascinated me with all the information he shared about his schooling and life in general, but he intrigued me with all his questions. He learned I live in the general vicinity of Taylor and Travis (Swift and Kelce), so he wanted information. He shared his unsuccessful venture to Atlanta, and he asked many questions. He mentioned a few things other Germans thought about America and Americans, and he used me as the spokesperson for our people…poor guy!

Truly, the day couldn’t have been better.