I was especially looking forward to Halong Bay so was concerned that the forecast was calling for thunder and lightning storms. Our driver was to pick us up early for the 4 hour drive, so I didn’t want to drive and arrive and find out our tour was cancelled.

We hoped for the best and drove through little towns and villages. Such a different life.

We arrived a bit early and had to wait around. No wifi was available either!! So, we played some cards.

We boarded our private junk boat and were impressed with the cabins and space to ourselves!

We had to take a 30 sec boat ride to board our junk boat:

  

We got some information about where we were heading:

They served us lunch, and we spent most time on deck, oohing and ahhing at the beauty! It was cloudy, but it was pretty magical too with all the mist:

The boys found some chess sets and that became a highlight.

It was pure relaxation and soaking in nature:

We made our way to some caves (light and dark caves) and set out on some kayaks. Our guide told us to leave the cameras behind because they would get wet. I was so so bummed (and I really would have been fine with my camera). Especially since the kayaking was one of my favourite parts of the trip! I guess I’ll just have to hold it all in my memory. Sam and Josh paired up and were pretty speedy and smooth sailing leading the way. It was so cute to see how quick and in sync they were. They are a good little pair, full of adventure and enthusiasm for anything sporty. Rob and Zandra were in another kayak. Zach and I held up the rear most of the time, talking and soaking up the scenery and appreciating the moment. Zach is pretty good at appreciating beauty and often points it out to me.

At one point our three kayaks went through a cave and emerged on the other side to a little bay. It was just us. We could hear ourselves echo, and then we all stayed silent for a few minutes and just listened to nature. My heart definitely took a picture then. Thin moment.

We continued to kayak a bit and then the little boys wanted to go for a quick swim. It was pretty misty and cool, but they really wanted to!

We headed back to our boat and then continued on to a pearl farm, where we saw how pearls are made. I bought a small pearly pendant to remind me of this trip forever:)

Back at the boat we were able to just lounge and relax. The boys played more chess and Zandra and I read.

Our butler then showed us how to make spring rolls.

It was drizzling, so chess moved indoors a bit:

We had a nice dinner (including the spring rolls) consisting of fish soup, spring rolls, shrimp, squid and oysters. We had good chuckles at Zach’s description of what oysters taste like….

We did a lot of squid fishing off the side of the boat (but caught nothing).

By then it was raining, thundering and lightning. We all piled in our room and played cards until bed. Ah, the perks of no wifi.

What an incredible day. One of my favourites…..