Halong Bay : day two

On our second day in Halong Bay, Brian set his alarm for the crack of dawn to take pictures of the bay in the early morning light. I’m not usually one to wake up that early, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see the bay at that hour. So I followed him up to the top deck and I am happy I did because it was worth it. It was so peaceful, all the other tour boats were still quiet and the emerald colored water was so still.

When we came down, the crew was awake (and I think very surprised to see us) and hot coffee was ready. We both poured ourselves a cup of coffee and retreated to our room to hang out until breakfast was served. Not a bad view for morning coffee right?

After breakfast James informed us that normally the whole group would board a smaller boat for the day to cruise to Lan Ha, a remote corner of the bay, but since we were the only guests staying on board for another night we would be getting a private tour for two. Clearly, some very good honeymoon luck, right? So we said our goodbyes to the group and boarded our boat for a day of fun.

After an hour (it wasn’t the fastest boat I’ve ever been on) we arrived at Lan Ha and dropped anchor. Brian immediately jumped in the water for a swim, choosing to make that jump from the top deck.

can you spot Brian?

After our swim, our guide informed us it was time to get suited up in our orange life jackets again because she would be taking us on a tour of the surrounding caves. I had been on the fence about the whole cave thing when I had read about it on the itinerary. I am terribly claustrophobic but she assured me that the ones we would be going to would be large. So into the kayak I went. We were joined by two Serbian men from another boat. They were a riot and perfect companions for the adventure. They were even kind enough to snap photos of us since we didn’t have our camera with us.

It’s true, the photos are rather blurry but at least we have them! After a few hours exploring the caves and attempting to spot monkeys on the islands, we were back on our little boat and headed for Three Peaches, where we would be spending the afternoon. When we arrived at Three Peaches, we dropped anchor again and  were served the most insane lunch. Seriously, it was a meal that could have easily fed a family of six but it was delicious.

After lunch we sunned ourselves for a bit before deciding to get back into the kayaks to make the short trip to shore to play on the beach and take a swim.

The day was perfection from start to finish, made even better when we arrived back on the main boat and were informed that the new group that was supposed to be joining us on the boat cancelled.  This meant we had the whole thirty person boat and a crew of twelve to ourselves that night. WINNING. I mean, best honeymoon luck ever, right! Below is a picture that Brian snapped of me doing my happy dance once I heard the news.

That evening they served us an elaborate four course seafood meal. It was hysterical having the whole dining room to ourselves and a waiter standing there for us. So this is how the other half lives, I thought. I could make this work.

After dinner we were both asleep again by eight. Ahhhhh, the joys of being on a honeymoon.

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ps….the photos that are beautiful and not iphone photos were shot by my super lovely and talented husband

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, Brian glodney photography, Explore, halong bay, honeymoon, Joy, Kate McClafferty, Love, marriage, travel, universe, Vietnam