Halong means descending dragon. Lan Ha means orchid. Beautiful names for an area with over two thousand islands. I’m glad we got another night here to see a few more of them.
While most of boat departed for a morning on Titov Island, we had leisurely breakfast and then got a smaller vessel to a less crowded area. First we kayaked to a small cave, and were the first people in today. Apparently it used to host weddings and parties, and there’s still a concrete dance floor sitting below the stalactites.
Then we departed for a long cruise among the karst islands, eventually stopping to swim in an unspoiled bay. I jumped off the top of the boat, and was pleasantly surprised that the water wasn’t too cold and seemed cleaner than before on the busier beaches. The ban on single use plastics does seem like it’s helping, but there’s still more work to be done to preserve these areas for the future.
On the way back we refreshed with a coconut drink “for the gram” and relaxed in the sunshine. We stopped at a pearl farm on way back, where Ruth got some nice earrings, and then returned to main ship for another night.
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