Halong Bay

For our overnight cruise of Halong Bay, we booked Tropical Sails' Lagoon Explorer	Berths were not available on the days we wanted, so we reversed our trip and went first to Ninh Binh, then Cat Ba Island	To get from Cat Ba Island to Halong City, our agent arranged a private boat for the three hour crossing	The agency chartered "The Long" - a very large boat for 2 passengers
Cabin of The Long	Cruising by the floating village leaving Ben Beo Harbor on Cat Ba Island	As it turned out, our Lagoon Explorer trip cancelled and we were put on a standard boat	Had we known that, we could have stuck with our original itinerary leaving Hanoi for Halong Bay
Better would have been to use Cat Ba Island as our base and visit Halong Bay as a day cruise from Cat Ba	A small temple on a beach off the east coast of Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay	We did not see many structures built on land in Halong Bay	Vietnamese training ship Sao Bien, Halong Bay
Halong Bay	"The Long" needed deck chairs on the roof	Trinh Vu 19 - a Halong Bay day boat for excursions from Cat Ba Island	The seawater has eroded the limestone formations in Halong Bay
Kayakers, Halong Bay	Exploring Halong Bay by kayak looked like a good option	Free-standing limestone pillar, Halong Bay	Halong Bay - a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Free standing pillar slightly reminicient of James Bond Island, Phangnga Bay, Thailand	Trinh Vu 19 on a Halong Bay cruise from Ben Beo Harbor, Cat Ba Island	The bottom of the islet has totally eroded	Kayakers, Halong Bay, Vietnam
Fishing boat and a distinctive islet	A group of kayakers paddling Halong Bay	Halong Bay is made up of nearly 2000 islands	Our boat and the excursion boat part ways, Halong Bay
The Long, Halong Bay, headed for Hon Gai	Halong Bay, Vietnam	A large bulk cargo carrier either loading or unloading onto smaller cargo vessels	Monolithic limestone island, Halong Bay
Small cargo vessel, Halong Bay	Crewman washing, Halong Bay	Arriving in Hon Gai on the north side of Halong Bay	Fishing boat with nets spread leaving Hon Gai
Vinashin RD-Paxline, 3-star cruise ship "Hoa Sen" moored at Hon Gai	Hon Gai, Vietnam	Market hall, Hon Gai	Row boat, Hon Gai harbor
Port of Hon Gai - Quang Ninh 28 and 29	Port of Hon Gai - Quang Ninh 28 and 29	Dolphin shaped garbage can, Hon Gai	The Long dropped us off behind the Halong Wonder Restaurant, Hon Gai
We were told there would be someone there to meet us	We waited and no one came, so we called the office in Hanoi, and finally the Tropical Sails people arrived	Tropical Sails told us that the Lagoon Explorer was out of commission for maintenance and we would be put on another boat	Vinaphone, Hon Gai
Roundabout, Hon Gai	Mosaic chicken in a roundabout, Hon Gai	Mosaic deer ina roundabout, Hon Gai	HIV awareness billboard, Hon Gai
Steeple of the church, Hon Gai	Hon Gai	Goc Quynh Hotel, Hon Gai	Modern glass tower, 169 Le Thanh Tong, Hon Gai
Inflatable festive dragon arch, Vinashin dock, Hon Gai - next to Tropical Sails	Crossing the new Bai Chay Bridge to Halong City	The hugely chaotic main tourist port for Halong Bay at Bai Chay, Halong City	You have to cross several other boats to reach yours
Rooftop deck of the Binh Minh	"Walmart Boat" Bai Chay tourist port, Halong City	Hong Long day cruise boat, Halong City	Vietnamese flag and the Bai Chay tourist port, Halong City
Dining room of an adjacent vessel, Bai Chay port	The very busy Bai Chay tourist port, Halong City	Bai Tho 68 day excursion boat, Halong Bay	Two Halong Bay boats tied up, Bai Chay
Hotel district, Bai Chay, Halong City	Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City	The Binh Minh, the replacement for the Lagoon Explorer	Cabin of the Binh Minh - nice enough, except for the generator directly beneath the bed
Coastal freighter, Halong Bay	Coastal freighter, Halong Bay	Halong Bay	Halong Bay
Entrance to a small cave, Halong Bay	Halong "where the dragon descends into the sea"	Floating village, Halong Bay	Floating village, Halong Bay
Floating village, Halong Bay	Floating village, Halong Bay	Near vertical monolithic limestone islands, Halong Bay	Floating village, Halong Bay
We got lucky and the day cleared nicely	Halong Bay	The bow of our boat, the Binh Minh, Halong Bay	We stopped at one of the fish farms for the chef to pick up dinner
Fish farm, Halong Bay	Fish farm, Halong Bay	Crabs, fish farm, Halong Bay	We'll see these squirming beauties later
Cuttle fish, Halong Bay	The Walmart Boat, just in case the dinner selection scared you	...a box of Oreos doesn't sound like a bad idea	The captain of the Walmart Boat, Halong Bay
Bai Tho 62 tourist boat, Halong Bay	Picturesque Halong Bay	A very nice sectino of Halong Bay	Passing an interesting rock formation, Halong Bay
This formation probably has a name...	The formation from the other direction	Tourist day cruise boat, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam
Halong Bay is definitely worth the trip	Passing close to one of the limestone islands, Halong Bay	Halong Bay	Halong Bay
Long shot of "Kissing Rocks" Halong Bay	Halong Bay	Tourist boat, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam
Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam
Huong Hai Junk, Halong Bay	Three-masted Bai Tho tourist boat, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Tourist boat dwarfed by the magestic stone islands, Halong Bay
Halong Bay, Vietnam	Unlike the other floating villages, houses here are connected to each other	Flag of Vietnam, Halong Bay	Vietnamese flag on our boat
Floating village, Halong Bay	Floating village, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam
Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam
Fishing boat arriving at a floating village, Halong Bay	Vietnamese boy with reddish hair in a rowboat, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam
Soi Sim Island with a lookout tower and a Russian-made beach, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Fishing boat, Halong Bay	The largest tour boat we saw on Halong Bay, with 3 main decks
Dad on the Halong Bay cruise	Bhaya luxury junk, Halong Bay	Fishing boats, silhouette, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam
Hey! There's the Lagoon Explorer, the boat we were supposed to be on	...they told is it was down for maintenance...	...turns out there are 2...	well...they could have put us on that boat...
Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Halong Bay, Vietnam	ON 2361 - Halong Bay
Halong Bay, Vietnam	Small boats, complete with laundry rack, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam	...another small floating village, Halong Bay
Halong Bay, Vietnam	Pearl farm for cultured pearls, Halong Bay	Pearl farm for cultured pearls, Halong Bay	"Main Street" of a floating village, Halong Bay
Fishing boats tied up at a floating village, Halong Bay	"Main Street" of a floating village, Halong Bay	"Main Street" of a floating village, Halong Bay	Floating village school built with French financing, Halong Bay
Floating village school built with French financing, Halong Bay	Kayak rental, floating village, Halong Bay	Old woman rowing a boat, Halong Bay	Another Walmart Boat, Halong Bay mobile shop
Floating village, Halong Bay	Fishing boat, floating village, Halong Bay	Halong Bay	I was thinking we were covering some of the same territory we had seen on the boat from Cat Ba
...and when we came back across the freighter, it was confirmed	Fu Zhou bulk cargo carrier, Halong Bay	Sunset, Halong Bay	Bhaya luxury junk at dusk, Halong Bay
Bhaya luxury junk at dusk, Halong Bay	Soi Sim Island at sunset, Halong Bay	Soi Sim Island at sunset, Halong Bay	Soi Sim Island at sunset, Halong Bay
Halong Bay sunset, Vietnam	Dangerous gang plank of the Ninh Binh	We first passed Soi Sim Island at 3pm when it was nice and sunny	Disappointingly, our boat stopped at the beach and lookout tower at Soi Sim after sunset
Why we did not stop at 3pm I have no idea....	The view from the top of Soi Sim island would have been much better when it was sunny	If the captain was shooting to get is here for sunset, he failed miserably	View east from Soi Sim Island, Halong Bay
View from Soi Sim Island lookout	Boats tied up at Soi Sim Island where we stopped for 20 minutes	"Praying Mantis Prawns"	The boy who would only eat white rice playing with a prawn
Nice presentation at dinner	The fish	Instead of finding a nice quiet place we moored at the entrance to a popular cave	Our generator ran til midnight (under my bed) and other boats made noise too
Crewmen taking a break, Binh Minh	Row boat arriving to take us to a water cave	Rowing to Hang Luon cave, Halong Bay	The Binh Minh waiting for our return
Entrance to Hang Luon Cave, Halong Bay	The cave opens up to the hollow center of a limestone island filled with a lagoon	Tourists from one of the larger boats - their motor was annoying in the lagoon	Inside the lagoon reached through Hang Luon Cave
Hang Luon Cave	Rowboat passing through Hang Luon Cave into the lagoon	Bai Tho 88, Halong Bay tourist boat	Bien Ngoc tourboat with Soi Sim island - the sails are decorative
Rock formation, Halong Bay	Vietnamese flag, Halong Bay	Halong Bay	Halong Bay
Bien Mo, Halong Bay	Rental kayaks at a floating village near Hang Sung Sot, Halong Bay	Halong Bay, Vietnam	Large boat, Indochina Sails, with tender, Halong Bay
Busy area of Halong Bay	Our not-so-special boat, the Binh Minh	Hang Sung Sot Cave - Halong Bay	Hang Sung Sot Cave - Halong Bay
Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave
Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave
Phallic rock, Hang Sung Sot Cave	Phallic rock, Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay	Hang Sung Sot Cave
Hang Sung Sot Cave	The very large main chamber, Hang Sung Sot Cave	The very large main chamber, Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave
Main chamber, Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave	Hang Sung Sot Cave	View of Halong Bay from the exit of Hang Sung Sot Cave
View of Halong Bay from the exit of Hang Sung Sot Cave	Boat pulled up to the "drop off" pier, Hang Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay	Lagoon Explorer with sails raised, Halong Bay	Tropical Sails - Lagoon Explorer
The Lagoon Explorer we had booked - it turns out there are 2 of them - only ours was broken	"Jewel of the Bay" Halong Bay	Dad visiting the cave	Boy taking a dump into Halong Bay
Halong City back in view at the end of our cruise	Bai Chay port, Halong City	Minh Hai, Bai Chay port, Halong City	Annam Junk, Hai Long Dream, Bai Chai port, Halong City
Vietnamese boy with a Fly Emirates shirt, Halong City	Official prices of boats and tours of Halong Bay, Bai Chay tourist port	There are 5 different routes for day cruises of Halong Bay	Prices for renting the entire boat for a cruise of Halong Bay
Halong Dream Hotel, Bai Chay, Halong City	Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City	Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City	Bai Chay Bridge, Halong City
Heading back to Hanoi at the end of our trip	Bridge across a river in an industrial town near Halong City	Hen Gap Lai - See You Again