Ethnic tours and travel picked us up early from the hotel and 3.5 hours later we were aboard our mini cruise ship. Oodles of seafood for lunch and dinner beautifully prepared and presented. Kayak trip through a floating fishing village and enough gorgeous scenery to keep me snapping away.
I forgot to mention Halong means Descending Dragon (legend has the dragon spitting out pearls and gems that then turn into each of the islands) Bai Tu Long means Dragon's Children
This next section is for those who haven't been to Asia and because Pam was trying to imagine the sounds and scents...
Other side of the coin: as a reality break I will mention that all we've seen has been very cool and interesting but there are foibles. Smog and pollution is thick, smoke, many cigarette smokers, crazy insane traffic with little to no rhyme or reason or even signals or signs and heavy on the honking, many scooter accidents and deaths. Unfortunately lots of trash everywhere including in the water of the beautiful Halong bay. Cities are dirty and have some of the most broken sidewalks and streets. Heavy coal production and use.
I tend to feel I'm sending the glossy version and although we enjoy ourselves and travel with positive outlook glasses on as much as possible I thought I would mention the realistic side of travel here.
Ok now back to the good stuff...
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