We knew we wanted to see Halong Bay as long as were this close. There are about million travel agents for about a half million tourists and they all offer tours to Halng Bay. Many are one or two nights, but we viewed the itineraries and didn't see a whole lot more for the extra days. So we bought a one day visit knowing it would be quite a long day.
We were waiting in the hotel lobby at 8:00 am and the smallish van picked us up at around quarter past. It was packed with the other 16 seats people full of tourists from Poland, Germany, Sweden, Holland, and Vietnam. Getting to the bay took a little more than 3.5 hours. We then said goodbye to our tour guide who'd be spending the night and were introduced to those in a day tour inside a new port side terminal.
We didn't try to skimp on the price as our travel agent explained that the very cheap tours get very cheap extras. As it was getting on towards one o'clock we were ready for lunch. We were seated with a Vietnamese family with two small girls and what I guessed to be an uncle. The food was copious and frankly much better than I expected, The variety of the food was large and the huge fish a nice addition. We headed out towards the rocky outcrops as we ate.
Getting to the area of the floating village was quite awe inspiring. One disadvantage of travelling a great deal as it raises one's bar for expectations. I didn't know the scenery would be THIS captivating. We paid extra for an add-on and a slight Thai lady rowed us around to see the caves and through a rock formation. My life-vest didn't fit correctly yet I did not worry in the least.
The big boat continued along to some limestone caves and these were big ones! Our new tour guide took a shining to us and two other ladies and we also sprinted though a more ancient well-known cave. It was famous for a 13th century admiral who used it to store stakes which helped destroy Chinese boats in a ruse.
In Hanoi the weather has been cold during the last few days. Today, though, was sunny and I was again able to run around in short sleeves. By the time 4 o'clock came, everybody seemed ready to go back to shore and the 4 hour trip back to Hanoi. I am absolutely glad we chose to spend the day this way.
The bus let us off in the crowded Old Section of the city so we could get some dinner. He didn't get back to the hotel until well after 10:00 pm.