One of my earliest, and best memories of my father is sitting together on the sofa watching Jacque Cousteau and National Geographic specials on television. Sometime around nine or ten, I began to make a mental list of all the natural wonders I would love to see, never really believing that I would get to see them. One of those natural wonders is Ha Long Bay in the South China Sea. This labyrinth of “karst” — limestone islands — was carved out of a shallow bay some 300 million years ago. Today, these conical spires, covered in lush tropical forest, and pockmarked with caves, rise dramatically from the emerald-green waters.
We boarded our twenty-five person “cruise” boat in the morning, and discovered, to our pleasant surprise, that our tour company had upgraded us to one of the two nicest “state rooms” on the ship to compensate us for the misadventure with the whacked-out driver earlier that morning. (See my post, A Tricky Morning, for details). In the span of a couple hours we traveled from bizarre, terrifying car ride to utter, wonderful decadence. Post script here: the driver was arrested and his license confiscated. The highway cameras captured his erratic driving.
Our luxurious tub in the state room. 
Candid photo of Don blogging in luxury. Note the view!
As we cruised slowly deeper into the bay, I found myself in one of those surreal moments when a childhood fantasy suddenly becomes reality. Words do not capture the sublime beauty of this bay. The name means the place where dragons come down. The local people believe they are the sons and daughters of these dragons. I hope these pictures capture something of the magnificence and majesty of this place.
Once again — this will definitely be one of the themes of this Blog — we met a perky, funny, delightfully mischievous young woman (Trang, pronounced Chang) who obviously loves her job and poking fun at us. She was, among other things, a Vietnamese version of Julie the cruise director on Love Boat for those of you old enough to remember that reference. If it is possible to fall in love everyday, I think it is happening here with these wonderful people.
After cruising into the archipelago, we dropped anchor, boarded a smaller boat towed by our cruise ship and docked on the largest of the hundreds of islands in the bay to explore one of the caves. The island has a population of 14,000 locals who make a living fishing, oyster farming and, of course, catering to tourists.
Caves of Ha Long Bay 
When we returned to our big boat, we were invited to dive in for a swim. I asked Trang if she was joining us. She looked at me like I was crazy. The temp was in the sixties and the sun covered by clouds. She was wearing a coat. But, she said, “I think it okay for you.” I think she was playing a joke on me, seeing if I had enough “American” bravado to jump in. Even for someone from the Northwest the water was bracing, but with Trang desperately trying to hold in a laugh, what choice did I have? I had to uphold the honor of my country. Melissa took the plunge right after me. I gave Trang my camera and she took, no embellishment, three dozen pictures of us. I’ve culled the herd.
Nighttime on the boat was magical especially because of the huge orange moon, not to mention my smoking hot traveling companion. On the morning of the second day, before cruising back to port, we kayaked in the breathless stillness of the morning waters stunned by the beauty.
Our dear friend, Margaret McClatchey, loved to tell us one of her favorite sayings, especially when we got carried away with trying to do all the “shoulds” in our lives. She said, “No treasure, no pleasure.” I think I finally understand, Margaret.
What a great post, Donny; descriptive, playful, and personal. And what a magical place you’re in with kind, gentle people around you. Hurrah.
Thanks Jack! Saigon has been quite a ride, literally. We hope to post about it soon. Thanks for reading and sharing.