Wednesday, fair skies. Onto the boat and getting settled. Signed up for their slow, one device at a time, internet package. Time will tell how functional.
Leaving port.
Got to the room and found that we are to set back the clocks one hour. Tricky with only one device on net; no time sync.
Thursday – at sea all day. Heading to first stop, Halong Bay. Just a down day, reading and eating,
Friday. Arrival in Halong Bay; Off boat excursion.
Halong Bay, known to many of us as Haiphong, consists of 1989 islands, of which 980 have no name. Apparently some/many of the bombs are still in the harbor. The bay is part of another infamous name, Gulf of Tonkin.
Boat ride on the bay with a visit to a large cave. The two rocks below are the icon of Halong Bay.
Cave of course. 250 steps and about .5 km to get through.
A visit to the town via a shuttle bus. Went to a mall to get pomelo, something I well remember from my bike trip. Took some effort with Google translate to ask for one ready to eat today. Then they took it away and peeled it, not what I wanted but fine. Will eat a breakfast tomorrow to see if as good as I remember.
Boog's Blog 
Atmospheric photos of Halong Bay islands. From the clothing, it looks as though it is pretty warm there… is that the case even on deck in a breeze?
Yes, warm but not as bad as HK which was humid. Boat has lots of excellent A/C. Some breezes when boat moving but we have not spent much time on deck and boat tour in bay did not have much in the way of breezes. QB sat in shade.