Bay of Descending Dragons

Hello from Ha Long Bay! We drove 8 hours from Sapa to spend 24 hours at this UNESCO World Heritage site. Absolutely worth it. If you've ever researched must-see sites in SE Asia, I bet you've run across articles about Ha Long Bay. It is an archipelago made up of 1,969 islands, both settled and uninhabited. This is my 4th time in Ha Long. To be completely honest, I don't care for the town very much, but the limestone islands really are magnificent and should be included on any Vietnam itinerary for first timers. We spent 1 day exploring the area and were able to complete a TON of sightseeing in our day (as you'll see in this blog post). The previous 3 times I've been here, I stayed on a boat which took us around the islands by day anchored among the limestone giants at night. I know sleeping on a boat sounds cool, but you're subjected to the tour schedule of the boat and most of the accommodations aren't that great. This time, we found a hotel close to the docks and ran our own schedule, which I much preferred!

Our day started off at 8 in the morning with a 4 hour group tour one of the junkers that are most common in the waters. Our junker dropped us off at one of the islands to explore a disco lit cave. It was really cool, but pretty crowded. We have plans to visit the famous Phong Nha-Ke Bang caves so I treated this as a warm up :)

After our tour, my parents took us out to lunch. We visited the beach for a few minutes and then decided to head out on to the water again, but this time, my dad arranged for us to have an entire junker to ourselves! It was AWESOME. First thing we had the captain do was take us to a popular kayaking spot for the most BEAUTIFUL kayaking I have ever done! Obviously photos could never do it justice, but I've included a few for you to get a feel for the area. Also GOOD JOB ME for not dropping my phone into the water.

Finished the evening off with a little bit of boat yoga and a nice tour of the bay :) Can't believe we did ALL of this in one day!! I'm completely wiped out. Looking forward to exploring somewhere new tomorrow! Thanks for reading along as I venture through Vietnam. If you have any questions or are looking to plan your own trip, I'm happy to help answer any questions! Have an amazing weekend, my friends!