When we arrived at the port, we had to wait around while our tour guide fetched our boat and captain. During the lull, several young boys walked up and offered to clean our shoes. Although I felt bad, I learned that it's best to look away if you really do not want to buy anything, otherwise you might be duped into buying something out of pity or due to their unrelentless persistence. After our tour guide found our captain and boat, we walked from the harbor to the pier, where our boat, the Huy Hoang, was waiting. After settling in and surrendering our passports, we explored the boat and waited for our meal to arrive. It should be noted that whenever you book a room or tour in Vietnam, it is standard to hand over your passport when checking in, which will be given back to you when you check-out.

We had a scrumptious seafood lunch of fresh catch from the Bay. First came crab filled with crabcake, then clams in herb-butter sauce, and then sauteed squid. The plates would not stop coming! I don't think I'd ever had such an elaborate meal before … The boat cruised for a few hours after lunch so that we could enjoy the sights. Of course, the breathtaking attraction of the Bay are the tall rock islands formed out of limestone. Over the centuries, as the current changed, the islands were less influenced by erosion and remained in place. One of the most amazing sights that we passed was a fishing village where the people live in floating houses on the river and make a living by selling their catch to outsiders. In the morning, the women also row around in canoes to sell groceries and packaged food to tourists. The people in this village often have spent generations on the Bay and have all sorts of amenities, including a school.

Our group then headed to a cove where we had the option to kayak, two people to a canoe. As in other countries where safety isn't a first priority, of course there were no lifeguards to keep an eye on us or buoys dictating areas where we could not go! Although it had drizzled earlier in the day, the water was surprisingly warm at about 20 degrees C (70 degrees F). After the kayaking expedition, which lasted about 45 minutes, we stopped at Cat Ba, the largest island on the Bay, to enjoy the pristine beach. Many people used this opportunity to bathe in the water, while others such as myself chose to hike a little ways up the hill to take pictures of the scenery from above. After that, it was back to the boat where I relaxed on the upper deck before dinner. Again, I noticed there were no lifevests or other safety precautions in sight, made all the more conspicuous since several people had brought drinks up above!

All throughout dinner and afterwards, karaoke music played throughout the dining cabin, but no one on our boat sang along, although there were some fun people on board. For the night, our boat was tied up to about 20 other boats to be anchored. The following morning, we woke up to a simple breakfast of toast, jam, and coffee, which was fine since we were probably still digesting the meals from yesterday. We then stopped on another island to explore the "Surprise Cave" which is so named because when it was first discovered, the people were surprised and awed by the sights inside. Our tour guide pointed out the interesting stalactites that resembled figures or objects, such as a couple linked in matrimony. The stalactites still exist because water occasionally drips down into the cave, forming little streams on the cave floors. However, since we were there when the weather wasn't yet rainy, the inside of the cave was dry.

This completed our tour and from there, we slowly drifted back towards harbor and tucked ourselves in for the 3 hour ride back to crazy Hanoi …