After leaving the homestay, we boarded the bus for 3 long days aboard the mini bus. The worst part of the trip was now behind us. We stopped for a night in Ninh Binh, but really didn’t do much as we ate dinner in the hotel restuarant and headed out early the next morning. While the bus is certainly better than a public bus, that long in any vehicle just sucks the life out of you.

Gratefully, the end of our long trip was Ha Long Bay. Easily one of the most beautiful places on the planet and a contender for the new 7 natural wonders of the world.

We weren’t sure what to expect for the junk boat, but when we boarded we were all quite happy.

While it didn’t look like much from the outside, it was quite nice on the inside and the service was excellent.

We headed out for a day and a half crusing around the islands. There are over 2,000 islands in Ha Long Bay and while only a few are inhabited, there are little floating fishing villages spread sround different parts of the bay.

We spend the day motoring out to surprising cave. It was clearly the local tourist spot and we waited in quite a line to get in and walk around. It was cool to see, but there wasn’t anything particularly surpising about it.

We headed out from the cave and found a nice spot in a cove to drop anchor. A few of the group went kayaking, but most people just jumped off the top of the boat and went swimming. Just as we hit the water, the sun began to set and we swam around and enjoyed the view.

Dinner on the boat was excellent and we all headed to the roof for a few drinks and to look at the other boats and the stars. It was an excellent way to spend a day on planet earth!