Halong Bay...weather gods have spoken

The good news is that we made it to Halong Bay, the bad news is that the weather sucks (20 degrees, cloudy, drizzle). Just to back up a bit, after a couple days of cycling we caught the ferry from Hai Phong on the mainland to an island in Halong Bay called Cat Ba island. Halong Bay is a rather famous place for the beautiful limestone islands that project out of the tourquoise water dotted with isolated beaches...you know, the postcard kind of images we have of southeast Asia. True to form, the area is amazing, but, as mentioned, the weather just isn't cooperating.

The original plan was to get here as our final destination and find a beautiful beachside cabina and have some serious beach time before we fly out. But alas, despite the beautiful beachside cabina and the tourquoise water, we have been forced to rethink that plan, and are now looking towards heading back to the mainland and cycling towards Hanoi and playing it by ear. With projected highs of 18 degrees and drizzle/showers for the following week, no amount of beautiful beach is going make that fun. So, tomorrow we are back on the ferry and heading towards Hanoi.

But hey, the view from our oceanview hotel is stellar, the fishing boats make a nice distraction, the restaurants and cafes are great, and, Amy got a 1-dollar pedicure!