Yesterday morning we took the 3 1/2 hour bus ride to halong bay stopping to have breakfast with the children at blue dragon center first. When we got to Halong bay we boarded our "junk" boat had a good seafood lunch in the dining area and got the keys to our rooms on the deck below. We then visited the "amazing" cave and the cave and halong bay in general are really incredible. The waters like emerald green and everywhere you look is picture perfecet. On the way back to our boat from the cave a lady was selling seafood from her small rowbopat and had an octopus in a small tub. The octopus kept trying to climb over the edges and the lady kept slapping his tenticles away- i was rooting for the octopus. Next we kayaked to a beachand climbed 420 stairs for a great view, 420 stairs was a lot and my legs were shaking uncontrollably on the way back down. We jumped of the railings of the bopat and swam and until it was time to shower for dinner. Dinner was also really good and we played poker before packing it in. Halong Bay was amazing.
This morning we were bussed to back to hanoi stopping at a ceramic village on the way. We definetely didnt miss the noise or 3 million motorbikes (not an exaggeration- an actual figure). this afternoon has pretty much been about food since we had lunch, went for ice cream, and wet to a supermarket. now we're getting ready to leave for the overnight train to hue.
