Ha Long Bay

Last Saturday, six of us rode in a bouncing van for three and a half hours to get to the coast and Ha Long Bay.  It was a wonderful day of relaxation and seeing more of Vietnam.  Since being in Vietnam, we had not left Hanoi; but Saturday, outside of Hanoi, we glimpsed another side of Vietnam.  There were so many beautifully green rice fields!  It reminded me a little of the corn fields of Iowa, but the green of the rice field is a different color – brighter maybe?  But it was definitely nice to see some green instead of only city for a change! 

On our ride, we saw many animals nearing the end of their lives.

 We were pretty sad, but also laughed really hard when we saw this motorbike outside of our window.  Our tour guide was trying to help us understand, "Well..., in Vietnam, some people think of dogs...  like pets, like in America...  but some think of them more like... more like the Koreans."  In other words, these dogs were soon to be cooked for lunch!  Most of you probably know that I'm not a huge fan of pets or dogs but I really do think it's sad how they are all piled on top of each other in their little cage!  But still kinda funny! :)

When we arrived in touristy Ha Long, we boarded our own private pirate ship!

All of the tour boats looked just like this ship - like something from Peter Pan!!

Rocks like this are all over in Ha Long

We were served lunch soon after we got on the boat.  We had shrimp, fish, scallops and other Vietnamese cuisine.  I'm not a huge seafood fan, but it was pretty good.

We also explored a big cave. Sally, our American-nick-named Vietnamese tour guide, told us the story of the cave of Ha Long.  There was a couple who lived in the clouds who got married in the cave.  They honeymooned in the cave too because it was so beautiful; and then they got pregnant.  The people native to Ha Long area come from these cloud people.  She obviously told it much better than that, but that's the jist of Ha Long cave!

We enjoyed relaxing and chatting on the deck of the boat.  It was so peaceful to just float along and feel the sea breeze.

Elise & Jennifer

Steph & Joe

me and Julia

Then we went kayaking!  Just before getting on the kayak, we saw a lady who was selling her catches of fish, lobster, crab, shrimp and baby shark!! to the cooks on the ships.  Steph and I were a little nervous about getting in the water with only a thin layer of plastic kayak protecting us from the potentially attacking sharks and other animals... but we toughed it out and had fun in the kayak!

Then we relaxed on the boat again as we headed back to land.  It was a very nice day - just getting away from homework and the city!!