Today we ventured outside the Old Quarter to Ha Long Bay, for a day tour. It was about $60 CDN each, but it was well worth it!

We were picked up by our hotel just before 9AM. 24 other folks from Belgium, India, Sweden, Japan and a couple from Vancouver were looked after all day by our most excellent guide Huong.

We took a 2.5 hour drive from Hanoi to our first stop at Legend Pearl. There had to be at least 30 other tour buses doing the same thing. It was the theme for the rest of the day - lots of tours. We got a tour from the Legend Pearl guide telling us all about the pearls they farm. It was very fascinating learning about the types & processes. We were then shown how a pearl was taken out of the oyster.  Of course there was a huge showroom with many, many showcases of pearl jewellery, jewellery made from oyster shells and even beauty cream made with ground up pearls which didn't make the cut to be jewellery. Some very nice pieces and some with very nice prices!

We drove a little further down the highway past a theme park and lots of new residential construction. We boarded the Ha Long Bay cruise at the Marina along with 2 other tour groups. Many other ships carries many other tour groups too!

As the ship departed we were all served a very delicious lunch - fish, prawns, mini clams, steamed rice, 2 types of mixed vegetables, an egg dish, Vietnamese spring rolls, cucumbers & fresh fruit. We sat with a couple from UK currently based out of Dubai and a couple from Australia.

The stunning scenery in Ha Long Bay was simply breathtaking. Not only is Ha Long Bay a World UNESCO site but is also one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. There are just under 2,000 rock islands, mostly limestone which jut out of the bay. We took so many pictures it was hard to narrow down which ones to include in this blog! So many boats, day cruises and multi-day sleeper cruises just added to the scene.

We were dropped off at Bo Hon island where we explored the Hang Sum Sot Caves. We hiked about 900 steps up (way up), down and out through which we went through 3 amazing caves - the largest being 10,000 square metres. The caves were defined by water over the years. The formations were amazing. Again we took so many pictures we had a hard time decided what to add here!

Back on the ship - next stop one of the adjacent islands. We had the choice of a small boat ride or "kayaking" which was really small canoeing. Both types of vessels cruised toward a tunnel in one of the rock islands which led us to a secluded serene inner bay.

Last stop on the cruise was over to Titop Island. It was a quick 40 minute stop at the beach or for the still energetic guests, more climbing. We opted to sit on the beach and have some fresh coconut milk (fresh out of a coconut) as we people and boat watched.

The drive home was pretty quiet with most folks sleeping. We did do a rest stop enroute & got some ice cream.

After a fabulous but exhausting day we decided just to grab a couple of sandwiches at the Circle K convenience store & crash back at the hotel. 

A fabulous day, but a long one!