Viet Nam - Day 12

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We were picked up at the hotel in the morning to start a 2-day tour of Ha Long Bay, another World Heritage Site. The bus was packed full - 14 people in a mini-van plus luggage. Our guide for the next two days was Phong. It was a three hour bus ride to Ha Long City, then we got on a boat and headed out into Ha Long Bay. Absolutely incredible, huge limestone karsts jutting out of the water, as far as you can see. There are over 1,900 of these rock formations. First stop was a floating fish farm out in the bay. Next stop was Hang Thien Cung Cave and Hand Dau Go Cave which were amazing. Certain cave/rock features were lit up with colored lights, which was actually a nice effect. Throughout the tour of the caves Phong told us how certain rock formations looked like dragons, a beautiful lounging woman, and even a dinosaur. We got to Cat Ba Island by late afternoon and got a bus to Cat Ba Town on the other side of island. We checked into the hotel and Phong told us to meet in the lobby for dinner at 6PM. We got a beer at the Noble House Hotel and then walked to the beach. From the beach there were raised walkways built into the rocks over the water. We took the one on the left and it took us to another beach. We passed a group of Vietnamese that said something to us as we were walking back, it seemed a little menacing…something about foreigners. We just passed them by and headed back to the hotel. When we reached the first beach we saw the group coming down another way…guess they were actually telling us that there was a short-cut back…so much is lost in not knowing the language. By then it was time to head back for dinner. Had dinner at the hotel with some German guys in our tour group and then went to the Noble House Koala Bar to play foosball and pool with the Germans.

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