Ha Long Bay

An early-morning journey through rice fields, ducks, water buffalos, the whole lot! Then a surprise stop at a disability workshop with many items for sale. Funny, that was not mentioned on the tour itinerary! Bought an embroidered picture to ease our conscience. Ha Long Bay was big, as was the town. Funny how you get an impression of a small seaside town which turns out to be bigger than Geelong- much bigger.

On board the Treasure Junk.

The Bay is full of remarkable limestone karsts; sheer cliffs rising out of the emerald water. Every few minutes there was another jaw-dropping view.

We sampled the local fare (which was a bit bland, surprisingly), paddled kayaks, toured floating villages and saw the pearl-seeding business at first hand.

It is an amazingly beautiful place, well-deserving of its UNESCO Heritage status.