OVERNIGHT ON HA LONG BAY

Following our teaching with Global Volunteers in Haikou, we flew to Hanoi from Guangzhou, China. We made plans to spend an overnight on a junk at Ha Long Bay while in Hanoi for one week.

We departed Hanoi early one morning and headed East to Ha Long Bay...the road was two lanes, one lane in each direction, a slow trip! We traveled through small villages & saw many rice paddies along the way. We were stunned when we arrived at Ha Long Bay! There were 400 junks tied up to several docks; 90 of them overnight junks, which is what we had reserved with our guide! Upon boarding, we were amazed at the subtle elegance, 'Tommy Bahama' style furnishings; in the dining room, white linen table clothes, wine glasses & fresh flowers on each table. There were 14 guests, including ourselves; people from around the world, all with interesting stories! The meals were outstanding......the biggest shrimp & crabs, cooked in a variety of ways; well seasoned & of course, fresh fruit -- papaya, watermellon & sweet dragon fruit!

Our stateroom was comfortable, rattan, with private bath.......we looked forward to a relaxing trip. There was an upper deck with lounge chairs which we found following lunch.......the views were stunning! We had an idea of what we would be seeing since we had seen similar limestone formations last year in Guilin -- however, seeing these formations against the sea, was even more spectacular! During the first day, we dropped anchor in a cove & climbed part way up a mountain to a very large cave which had been discovered around 1920, was now lit up well......after the climb, our junk moved on to another island with beach, some went swimming, some played volleyball, some relaxed & watched!!!!This was a fun experience for us........

Our time in Hanoi was a mixture of sightseeing, going to museums and shopping! Most of the buidings had been built by the French during their occupation.

A little history on Vietnam: It is a long, narrow country & borders China, Laos & Cambodia with mountains in the north & south. The climate is tropical, tho the north can be cool in the winter months......has a population of 79 million, making it the 13th most populous country in the world. The language is Vietnamese, tho English is spoken widely. Most popular religion is Buddhism, with some Taoist, Confucian and Christian minorities. The food is flavorful, colorful & very healthy! The food in the south tends to be more spicy, while the north has more French or Chinese elements! Tropical fruit is abundant & delicious! The legal tender is Dong........16,000 dong to $1.00! That was a challege to figure out, we always had a large wallet filled with bills & felt wealthy!

One hightlight of Hanoi was taking a ride on a rickshaw type bicyle, it was a good way to see the old French style city.

Two of our favorite restaurants: Brother's Cafe for lunch;had delicious soups, especially crab noodle!; Le Tonkin for dinner; food was outstanding, atmosphere too......an old French villa, a warm evening, local musicians.....highly recommended!

One of the more popular tee shirts for sale was......'GOOD MORNING VIETNAM'!

Was a very interesting experience overall.............

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