The next day included a drive out to Halong Bay on the coast. We had been looking forward to a trip there as we had heard that it was beautiful and would be a photographer's paradise. The four-hour drive along the dusty road was best endured while asleep in order to not see the weaving of our driver around large trucks, buses and various cyclos.

The pecking order of driving in Indochina goes like this car honks which means 'Hey I'm behind you! Move to the side you lowly bicyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian!' Flashing your brights means 'I'm behind you and will pass you' to any car, bus or truck ahead. There are no lanes and one just pulls out into any space that the driver thinks can allow their car to pass. No one considers this offensive.

As the sun was setting, Robert kept asking for a stop along one of the numerous beautiful rice fields. Our guide kept putting us off and as the sun was almost gone, we stopped in front of mined out area filled with water. Robert exclaimed 'Oh these are beautiful rice fields!' to which everyone laughed. Under his breath he said 'effing slag pits'. While taking photos of the sunset, blasts of dynamite were heard as rock fell from the mountains ahead of us.

By nightfall we were at our 5 star dump in Halong Bay. A laminated card in our room detailed prices of all objects should we require them as a souvenirs the restaurant menu = $15, sheets = $35, chair = $50, etc. Little did we know how serious they were in these hotels. A trip down to the restaurant determined that there was nothing to eat so we made a short walk around the street and only discovered one restaurant that was open. A sleepless night followed in the hotel as the A/C didn't work & our requests to the front desk were in vain. No screens on the windows meant that we would of been covered in bites by morning.

The next day we took a 4-5 hour boat ride out to some of the islands. It was overcast and the only boats on the water were either small vending boats (which pull up to the slow moving tourist boats to sell Coke, chocolate bars, Pringles or fruit) or the tourist boats. Our first stop was a cave sponsored by the Chinese that was complete with colored illuminated lights and penguin trashcans. The next cave was higher up but still not very interesting.

We then took a cruise around the islands where our guide would say 'Look Robert, look at that rock up there! It is a dog!' Every natural formation that resembled something common in the world such as a breast, dog or cat was pointed out. Our special surprise was a transfer into a small boat where we were rowed by an 18 year old girl into a small lagoon. Following us where children floating on pieces of Styrofoam begging for money from the boat houses.

A boat ride back to shore and we were on our way back to Hanoi. All in all, we were not very impressed by our trip to Halong Bay.

Our 'surprise' on the way back was a stop at a craft place that supports children of those affected by Agent Orange. How could you help not buying purses or embroidery? It was the perfect trap for our guilty western minds even if our families had no involvement.

Commerce was alive and well in North Vietnam.