For some reason, I woke up at 4 am, and couldn’t go back to sleep. But I figured at least I’d get to see a sweet sunrise over HaLong Bay…. Alas, it was overcast. But, still beautiful. Cause for heaven’s sake, it’s HaLong Bay!
We had a lovely breakfast of fried eggs, toast, bacon, and fruit. And it was awesome. Though for some reason, Juju was being antisocial and at first would only sit on the steps just outside the dining room.
After breakfast, we went and packed up all our stuff and put our luggage out by the disembarking area. They needed to clean the rooms for the next group of cruisers.
And we made our way toward our next excursion. We went to an island that had a small beach and a cave.
The kids were delighted to be on a beach and it looked like a bit of a hike up to the cave and so Jonathan opted to stay on the beach with the kids, and I went and saw the cave.
The kids were as happy as little clams on the beach. Clara collected seashells, Juju managed to get all wet, and Logan stuck handfuls of sand in his mouth.
Meanwhile, I saw the cave. And because you had to hike a bit to get to the entrance, the view of the surrounding area and the limestone formations was amazing.
And the cave itself was pretty cool. It was quite large. And had all kinds of stalactites and stalagmites and all that good stuff.
While the cave was really cool to see, it was a good choice to just let the critters play on the beach. And it was nice to go off on my own for a minute or two also. Man oh man, look at that view. And cute family picture alert.
Once I returned to the beach, we hung out for a little longer and then it was time to return to the boat.
After the excursion, we had some free time. Then an early lunch. We had a wonderful time in Ha Long Bay. I feel so lucky to have seen it with my own two eyeballs.
We then boarded the bus with our three whiney (Very tired) children and as we headed back to Hanoi, it seems that I was tired too… I know, it’s very attractive. Jonathan takes great delight in vexing me taking pictures of me awkwardly sleeping… #revengewillbesweet
Again, on the way back we made a brief stop at a touristy area. It was awesome. I kind of wished I had waited to buy stuff there. It was stuff that was made by people with disabilities. So, a good cause. And they sold a lot of the same items. They also had people working on stuff in the store itself. And as usual, the children were loved and doted upon.
I love the buildings in Vietnam. They are just so tall and skinny. It’s just awesome. So, After we got back, we rested for a bit, cause let’s be honest, the driver was weaving and braking even more vigorously than the driver that took us to HaLong Bay. So not much sleeping was done on the bus.
After our naps, we walked into the center of the old quarter to get some chow. It was a glorious evening. And, pizza sounded amazing to us. So, we went to Pizza Hut. #murica
