So much food

After another epic breakfast performance we made our way through the torrential rain to the bus, a journey of approximately 10m. The 4 hour trip to Ha Long Bay was mostly uneventful, although seeing a water buffalo in a tiny trailer being towed by a motor bike isn't something you see every day.

We stopped on the way to visit what our guide refers to as the happy house and look at some art and buy some chocolate. 

Upon arrival at Ha Long bay, we hopped on a little boat, donned our life jackets and went a short distance to a bigger boat. 

We went to our cabins and then to lunch. Whew. I haven't over eaten for over 4 hours. Soup, salad vegetables, meats, non seafood for the smart people. It just kept coming. Plate after plate until the pineapple turned up which was the end of another annihilation. Once again, loved the salads.

Back to mini boat, and across to an island with a tour of giant caves. 

Annette's friend from the flight, still suffering from having her legs cruelly crushed from the reclining seat, had to be helped out by our guide. 

Back to mini boat, across to another island with 182m worth of steps to reach the top. I made it and left Annette halfway. I do wish that if you saw a woman wearing high heels doing this walk that everyone had permission to smack her in the head, but unfortunately there are apparently laws that protect stupid people.

From the walk to the beach for a 15 minute dip as the night came in. If it's not 25.7 degrees or above, I can't see the point in getting wet. Annette did get her feet wet.

One more little boat trip back to another never-ending meal followed by a good sleep  (at least for me) on our anchored boat. Early on, another vessel did run into us, but we didn't sink so it mustn't have been too bad.