Hadley's Story: Ha Long Bay-Gulf of Tonkin

Ha Long translates to "where the dragon descends into the sea". Legend has it that the islands of Ha Long Bay were created by a great dragon that lived in the mountains. As it ran towards the coast to fight off sea faring enemies it's flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses; as it plunged into the sea, the areas dug up by the tail became filled with water, leaving only the high land visible. The High land makes up the limestone karsts that you will see in some of the following pictures. The 3000 islands are dotted with natural white beaches and grottoes.
We joined our tour group for the 3 hour drive to Ha Long Marina at 8:00am on Saturday. Our group was represented by youngsters like ourselves from France, Switzerland, Australia and San Francisco. It seemed like a lively group and we were looking forward to the company as we sailed. We arrived at the marina and waited only a few minutes before we, Chris, Hadley and I, were ushered to the Lagoon Explorer. We walked the gangplank and unloaded our bags on the deck. When we turned around to address the rest of our group we discovered that we were alone. Looking back we saw the rest of our group getting on a different boat. Once we settled in and the crew "tour guide" introduced himself we were able to ask some questions. First, of course, was about the rest of the group. Hoai (tour guide) said that we were the only ones on this boat for this trip. We were a little disappointed at first but once we saw that our crew consisted of 5 Vietnamese men at our beck and call we decided we deserved the royal treatment and graciously accepted it.
We shoved off and were told it was lunch time. We sat at our lovely table, white linens, and enjoyed an 8 course meal consisting entirely of seafood. Those of you who know me well know that I don't "do" seafood. I was hungry and knew it was seafood for 24 hours or ration the 2 Kashi bars in my suitcase (thanks MIL). Chris was a little more easy going about the menu but as he said "I do not love seafood, but I do not dislike it either". As each course was served, squid, prawns, shrimp, white fish etc we joked about how there must be a net off the back of the boat and whatever they catch is served up to us. We both decided we should attempt to enjoy the 4 meals aboard the Lagoon Explorer as those seafood lovers we know back home would have been in heaven. Chris wanted the first picture of this post to be the "praying mantis" we were served as course 3 of 8 for the first meal aboard. So, here you go...

Chris "took one for the team" as we were told the Praying Mantis was a delicacy in Vietnam. It would have been offensive to not eat it and I just couldn't do it....I tried, I swear!

Our boat. The sails weren't up as it was too windy.

The kitchen was open air off the back of the boat.

There is a floating village in the bay. About 400 people inhabit this one. Many of the boats are tied up to one another during the summer but because of the winter elements they all tie up together so they can ride out the storms in safety. The Vietnamese government supports this lifestyle but send in teachers from the mainland to ensure that the children receive a proper education in case they choose to leave the "river dweller village" when they are grown.

Same village.

We took a short boat ride through this tunnel. Hadley has these enormous, beautiful eyes and we have been wondering how big they would get if she were amazed or surprised. Well, now we know...

Inside the tunnel, eyes wide as saucers!

A 420 step hike to the top of this peak has been our only exercise while on this trip. It was a steep climb and many comments along the way about carrying a baby to the top. Since I don't speak French, Japanese or Chinese I'm not sure if they were being complimentary of my physical shape or critical of risking the baby on such a treacherous climb. I chose the former.