This morning was a 3 hour car ride to the city of Ha Long Bay where we were to join an over night boat cruise to visit and see the limestone pinacles for which this area is famous; Ha Long Bay

The drive took us along a relatively new 6 lane toll way (opened 2014-18) and past the city of Hai Phong, a major industrial center, the 3rd largest city in Vietnam, and one of Vietnams major ports.

Our city of departure, Ha Long Bay, was a bit of an eye openner. To say it is a major tourist center would be an understatment, almost wall-to-wall hotels and restaraunts, hugh cable car system over the city, 500+ cruise companies (according to our guide) and lots of new construction. Somebody (more likely some bodies) are investing a lot of money here.

We joined our boat about midday and had a liesurely trip out of the harbor merging with the limestone pinnacles. Initially the day was overcast and the scenery hazy but as the afternoon progressed the sky cleared and we were able to get some good views of these structures. Apparently there are 1969 pinnacles/islands in this area of Ha Long Bay.

Late in the afternoon we anchored near a pinnacle/island were we went ashore to explore the interior of an island; you see many of these islands have caves inside which have often been used (in the past, not allowed now) by fishermen as shelters. The cave we explored was not very big 3 caverns connected by passages, but never the less interesting.

Following our caving expedition some of the passengers went kayaking while Nina and I (and a few others) sat on a small beach enjoying the sun (which was out by then) and the scenery.