Made it to Hanoi – flight was just fine. Our first impression is the traffic is crazy! So many motorbikes, so many crazy drivers – so many people in general.

Laos was so much less developed and had far less people.
This morning we drove to Halong Bay for a cruise. It is very popular and the dock area is large with hundreds of tourists milling about.  We are soon off on a private boat for our group of 9 travelers.

The water here is green, but it is quite cool and misty outside.  The bay is protected and contains 1969 limestone islands that jut up out of the sea soaring straight up.

We stop at Hang Day Go cave and explore its three large caverns. There are many caves in these many islands. En-route we can see floating villages of fisherman who sell direct to the boats.

Lots of kayaking and swimming available as well. 🙂