Karst Fest: Halong Bay and the North

Outside of Ninh Binh, Vietnam we found "Halong Bay in the rice paddies." We explored the area by motorbike and ended up on some back roads that kept on going forever. We stopped off at a small village (maybe 10 houses) for an ice cream and what looked like a home-brewed fruit spritzer from a nice lady that probably rarely sees white (devils) people.
Cat Ba National Park, Halong Bay. Our guide was a freaking monkey, he would run up the steep and slippery trail, wait for everyone to pass and then run ahead again. He climbed this rickety tower which was only supposed to hold 5 people at a time (which we saw after all 15 of us came down) and posed for photos. The park is beautiful and the climb steep, but the views amazing at the top. It looked like Jurassic Park, minus the dinosaurs of course. We spent the night on the island for the second night of our Halong Bay tour.

Colin, kayak steerer and power paddaler, stops for a photo in the early morning.
Kayaks lined up at a stop over in Halong Bay. We were told that there weren't enough for everyone on the boat to go at the same time (which was obviously not the case), so we went early in the morning for a little cruise around the karsts.
Amazing Halong Bay, Vietnam's redeeming beauty, with thousands of karst formations jutting out of the sea. We took a three day tour through the bay, cruising the karst and visiting a cave on the first day, then swimming in the bath-like waters and sleeping on the boat in the evening. The following morning we woke up early for kayaking, more cruising, and headed to Cat Ba Island, one of the largest in the bay. We almost didn't make the trip out here because of the hords of tourists, but it was one of the best places we saw in Vietnam.
Just some of the tourist boats that were lined up outside of the cave waiting for their passengers to be hustled through. We slept on one of these in the bay during our first night out.
A cave that we visited during our trip to Halong Bay. There were were at least 700 people in this cave at any given time, but it was really huge and even with all the other tourists was the best cave that we have seen on the trip. They also had these cool lights illuminating the stalagtites that added to the eerie and striking view.
Taken at the Temple of Literature which was the first University in Vietnam in Hanoi. On the backs of the turtles are lists of all the people that earned PhDs in a given year. The King proctored the exams himself, showing how important education has always been in Vietnam. Within the grounds there was a temple to Confucious, whose teachings were the basis of an old school Vietnamese education.
Amanda strikes a pose in the shade of an entrance gate to a Nguyen Dynasty King's country retreat which is now his burial monument. This particular building housed his many concubines. We rode here from Hue in the stifiling heat on bicycles and passed an open art gallery that was part of the festivities while we were there.