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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

The cutest couple in Halong Bay!

KYLE AND THAO GO TO HALONG BAY!



















The trip started with a 2 hour bus ride from Hanoi. As you can see, Thao has spent a bit too

much time in Japan! As luck would have it, there were plenty of chances for her to show off her

language skills by talking to people in Vietnamese, Japanese, and English...




halong bay





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Getting close to the bay, I stop to pose for the camera on the top deck of the boat. You can see

the many mountains in the background, as well as the other boats.












Well, it's important to test out the safety equipment before use!







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The cutest couple in Halong Bay!












"Wait, you have something on your cheek there... Let me get that..."












Relaxing on the top deck of the boat, as we approach the caves. Luckily it was a bit cloudy that

day, so it wasn't too hot.












A pretty good picture of me with some nice Halong Bay scenery. In the background you can

see another boat similar to ours. The bottom decks have the rooms where we will spend

the night on the water.











NO, those are not big ears that I have! Just a tree behind me...










Posing before we enter the caves. Wow, we look good...












Okay, she looks much better! :) Sexy, sexy lady












All the boats docked at the harbor. It was pretty busy of course, since it was a holiday weekend.










Time to relax after a hard day of exploring some caves...


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Sitting outside of our room. Behind me you can see the fishing village, where we stopped to

pick out some fresh fish for lunch.












A nice photo of Halong Bay that could make a great postcard.





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Thao said "you look like an old man in this picture, but at least it shows the scenery"












I love this "artistic shot" of Thao :)












So happy to finally go on vacation :)












As the clouds cover the sun for a few minutes, it sets a very different mood.












With the boat next to the mountains, you can see how high they are and that they just go

straight up out of the water.












After we picked out our crab, it was boiled and served to us within minutes! Now that's what I

call "fresh crab"! Mmmmm looking at the picture makes me want to eat some more!












An amazing picture of the beautiful Halong Bay. The water is so still and calm, and there are

hundreds of mountains coming straight up out of the water on all sides. Another classic photo

that would make a great postcard!










This was the scenery on all sides as the boat stopped for the night. The water was calm, so it

didn't really feel like sleeping on a boat...


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After a good night's sleep, "Cowgirl Thao" shows her playful side and poses for the camera :)







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The next day I got a bit smarter and decided to wear my sunglasses instead of staring right into

the sun. And it makes me look better in pictures too! :)












Stopping in Cat Ba National Park. Vietnam is such a nice country! Even cats and dogs

get along and can be friends...












Relaxing before a great meal of wild chicken. We could have climbed up the mountain for 2

hours instead, but... naahhhh. Chicken is better. :)







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On the beach of Monkey Island. The sun was very hot that day, so we spent some time sitting

in the shade before going swimming. But before too long, in the trees behind us we heard

some noises...












There was a cute baby monkey that came close to see if there was anything to eat. Thao

cautiously moved close to the monkey and tried to give it a banana... But watch out!!! ...












The mamma monkey jumped at Thao, and she got so scared and turned around without looking

and ran right into a post! Ow!! Luckily she managed to get away without being attacked...












The great view from the beach. It looks like some people jumped off the boat and swam to

shore, but no, nothing like that... :P







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Getting back on the boat... We had a great time swimming and managed to escape without

any more monkey incidents.














The view from our hotel in Cat Ba. Our hotel was overbooked, but we got

lucky and got moved up to a VIP room that would cost over $80 USD per

night! It was the perfect end to a great trip...