To see Halong Bay properly we booked a two night cruise on one of the many "junks" as they lovingly call them. I don't really need to go into a day by day account because all we really did was enjoy the landscape. However on our second day we were given the freedom of leaving the boat and doing our own thing on Kayaks. It is easy to find little lagoons tucked within these limestone rocks by entering through natural archways that look like you're going through a cave. Reid and I found one of these archways into a lagoon where we couldn't see a soul and after jumping in for a swim we noticed some monkeys. We paddled over and watched them for at least 30 minutes (monkeys are rare to see here) and it was at this time I noticed what looked like a narrow cave our kayak would barely fit through. So us being the adventurous type decided to paddle through and when it looked like we would be in pitch darkness there was light at the other end and we found ourselves in our own private lagoon. This was for sure the highlight of the cruise, we felt like we stumbled upon an undiscovered paradise or something. It was quite a feeling.
Monkey!
Our private lagoon, note the entrance we came through
Going back out the way we came through our "secret passage way"
Fish market Halong Bay style
After the cruise on our way back to Hanoi it was pouring rain and by the time we got to the outskirts of the city there were certain areas that had been flooded. Even though it's technically the dry season in Vietnam right now they saw the worst rains they've had in 25 years (just my luck). So buses and trains weren't leaving due to the flooding so we were stranded in Hanoi for the night (not the worst place to be stranded, we made the best of it). The next day the three of us headed south to the town of Ninh Binh.
We of course were greeted with more rain and weren't able to get out of the hotel room until mid afternoon. That was spent just walking around and checking out the market and stopping for cafe sua here and there. By the way cafe sua is on of the best things on earth (thanks Tien). It's Vietnamese coffee which is closer to espresso than coffee, mixed with sweeetened condensed milk, mmmmmmm.
Pagoda beautifully framed by limestone outside Ninh Binh
Women working in the rice fields outside Ninh Binh
Tom Coc
The water was so high from all the rain that it was difficult to get under some of the bridges...
"Mama", as the other women called her, who rowed me around Tom Coc (with her feet at times!)
Anyway the next day Reid and Jason headed back to Hanoi to fly to Cambodia and I rented a motor bike to go to the site of Tom Coc. Imagine Halong bay but on a river and in a small row boat with a really cool old woman paddling you around who doesn't speak English. It was fun to ride around on the motor bike and the trip through Tom Coc was beautiful. Next stop Hue. 
I saw this guy on my way home from Tom Coc, I thought it was picture worthy
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