Since it is still Vietnamese New Year Holidays, the university and the Kindergarten are closed.  So, we decided to visit Ha Long Bay.  Ha Long City is about 150 km from Hanoi, and we reached it in about 3 hours with a “mandatory” 20 minute midway stop at the art craft house. From there, we boarded the boat and left the port. According to new recent regulations, all passengers need to stay inside the cabin, while the boat is leaving the port. Entering the scenic Ha Long Bay, we visited a cave (Động Thiên Cung). Anton and Lukas liked the cave and when we were back on the boat, they pretended seeing pirate ships everywhere. Next, we stopped near a fishing village and some of our group went kayaking, while others stayed back and played cards. By 6pm, Lukas fell asleep, and it was just about time for dinner. The food on the ship was quite good and always included an entire fish. Our cabin was on the top deck and had two beds with a window looking out on the scenic Ha Long Bay. We decided to spend the night on the boat, while anchored in the shallow sea of the bay.

The bay was covered in fog during sunrise, which made for really nice scenery.