Countries Of My Life: Day 13: Rain, Rain, Rain

We started the day with a small breakfast. It rained the whole day, but this didn't mean we wouldn't do something. At first, we went to the biggest cave in Hạ Long Bay. It was very impressive to see what nature can create in millions of years :)
Sometimes the stalactites and stalagmites had special meanings. For example, there was a happy Buddha, a fossil of a dragon and a lion with a pig face. Actually this is no joke, those were the meanings, so I was told ^^

Inside The Cave

After the trip, we changed to a little boat, because we were the only ones out of the group who made a 3-day trip. We continued out trip in Hạ Long Bay while the others went back to solid ground ;) To pass the time, we did kayaking again, this time we even saw monkeys, crabs and other little animals at some of the islands. And we collected some oyster shells ^^

Our lunch at the boat consisted of chips, cucumber, tomatoes, shrimps, Nem (spring rolls with meat), Vietnamese cabbage, chicken, paprika, onions, unknown fish out of the sea and water melon ... Maybe I should stop describing our food until the last detail ;)

While the others went to an oyster farm afterwards, I used the time to get some sleep. Don't know exactly why, but I was just tired oO The others told me the oyster farm was very interesting and brought back some pictures ^^

We continued our travel through the bay, and I sat down on the prow of the little boat. Here again, I felt an indescribable peace and calm. While I sat there, thought and was moved by the surroundings, I got my next spiritual ... well, let's call it realization, I don't find a better word for the German word "Erkenntnis". It was too big to describe it here, but the topic was about my place in this world, my search for it and that I'm already there. Hope my future self will still know what I meant ^^

Deep Thoughts?

Later, we returned to the big boat again, the next group was already on it. To be honest, they didn't seem so cool and open-minded like the people before. Everyone put a lot of distance to each other and it was very quiet oO

On the boat, we found out that the following activities were the same we already did yesterday! In the end, it wasn't a 3-day tour like promised from the Sinh Café. Just the 2-day tour twice :(

It was also quite strange to bond with the new group, because we couldn't get any connection to them. My advice for you: If you're planning a trip in Hạ Long Bay, don't believe the official descriptions of the trips. As harsh as it sounds, many Vietnamese travel agencies will try to rip you off! Search for the comments and review from other tourists, if there are some.