After 24 hours of transit travel, we finally arrived in Hanoi. Since we only had one night before a two day trip to Halong Bay, we decided to go cheap. We were pleasantly surprised at what we found. For $2.5 each we had a bed in a hostel, hot showers, free breakfast, and unlimited beer from 7-11pm! I don’t know how they made any money on us at this place, but I can’t complain.

The bus picked us up at the hostel at 8:30 am to begin our trip to Halong Bay. The group for the boat trip was a fun mix of Americans, Canadians, and Frenchies. As we started to sail into Halong Bay, the scenery got more and more breathtaking. A misty fog lined the tops of the mountains that protruded from the emerald colored waters. Nearly 2,000 islands make up the maze of Halong Bay and it was dedicated as a World Heritage Site in 1994.

Our boat had bedrooms downstairs with windows that overlooked the bay. The middle floor was for dining and the third floor was an open air deck with artificial turf. It was beautiful, quaint, and everything we could want for a two day one night trip. Following a few hour cruise through the bay, our first stop was kayaking. After paddling around a few island mountains, we paddled through a small tunnel. We then found ourselves in a lagoon the size of a few football fields surrounded 360 degrees by forest topped mountains, soaring birds, and the home to a few troops of monkeys. It was stunning and the fog made it even more mysterious.

When we got back on the boat, we saw the 7-Eleven Pirates. Just like the coffee pirates on the Mekong Delta, the 7-Eleven pirates would hook up to your boat and try to sell you anything from booze to Oreos. From our bedroom, all we had to do was waive the little lady in a pink jacket over to our window and we got some cool brewskies. It was the most entertaining room service I had ever seen.

After kayaking we sailed to Surprising Cave, the largest cave in Halong Bay and the largest I have ever visited. It had a concrete path throughout with a mixture of natural and artificial light illuminating the hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites. The largest section had a ceiling of 98 feet, which dwarfed travelers in the underground grotto.

Marge and I have a habit of drinking on overnight boats (we have had a few overnight cruises in Europe). This once was no different. Prices can be pricy at the bar, so we planned ahead with a few drinks, but quickly ran out. The boat would charge you if they found out about your own booze, so we had to drink on the down low. As if we were in a dorm room in college, all the Canadians, a few Frenchie’s and the two of us crammed in a room for a few drinking games. We were running low on drinks, so Marge cracked the window and shouted “Pinky!” across the dark bay that was illuminated with other cruiser’s lights. Within two minutes, a different Pinky showed up to save the day. She passed an entire case of beer through the window so we could continue our drinking games with our new friends. We started a pile of empty cans and trash in the room after a bit and we didn’t want to leave it in case the boat would charge us for drinking in the rooms. Sure enough for $2 another Pinky came to the window and took all our trash for us. I’m not sure why they all wore pink jackets, but it sure made it easy to spot the 7-Eleven pirates we will forever refer to as Pinky.