Two fishermen in the morning - I'm guessing a father and son.
From the island with the grotto, we loaded back onto the tender and returned to the Classic IV to change into swimming gear for the visit to Ti Top (Titov) Island. The island is named for a Russian cosmonaut who visited the area some time ago. There is a statue of the worthy at the beach on the island in a very Soviet aesthetic — a notable contrast with the relaxed beach atmosphere swarming with Chinese tourists. A number of the group climbed the trail to the observation point on the top of the island's peak, rather fewer stayed down at the beach.
Jonathan went swimming while I watched standing in the shallows. Jonathan attracted a certain amount of attention from the Chinese tourists fascinated by his age, beard, and/or tattoos (not necessarily in that order). I was also the subject of a number of photographs while standing at the edge of the light surf watching Jonathan swim.
Afterwards, we sat in the shade and people watched — mostly Chinese folks posing for photos and selfies on the beach. Scarves seemed to the the required accessory of the women during this exercise.
Two fishermen in the morning - I'm guessing a father and son.
The statue of Gherman Titov that greets visitors to the island.
The crowd of mostly Chinese tourists debarking under the watchful eye of Comrade Titov.
Jonathan entering the waters of Ha Long Bay.
In the water.
Albert people watching in the shade.
The view of the beach from our base in the shade.
Our base in the shade.
Some of the selfie action on the beach.
Action photographs seemed to be preferred - this lady was using the volleyball net to strike a pose.
This is one of my favorite photos. This distinguished lady showed them how its done. I think she's very beautiful.
Scarves were apparently a required accessory.
Now in blue.
Waving it above your head.
Alan returning from capturing some of the selfie action on the beach.
On the way back from the beach, a family of fisherfolk.
We enjoyed a buffet lunch back on board the Classic IV and received the good news that the harbor master would allow the ship to stay in the harbor despite not being allowed to visit Cat Ba National Park due to the incoming weather front. Although the journey to Cat Ba was still out, we will still visit Dark and Bright Cave this afternoon followed by a cooking demonstration.
The tender deposited our group at the concessionaire's floating platform to transfer to either sampans (most of us) or kayaks (Barb & John, Gwen & Steve). We were in one of the two sampans. The rowers were a very young man (I'm guessing teenager) and a young woman (possibly a bit older) who seemed to have a bit of a competition going. They expertly rowed us up the inlet to the target Dark and Bright and rowed through to the other side. We did a small circuit on the other side, and then were rowed back through the cave to return to the platform. The kayakers seemed to take a different route, circling around the karst before returning.
Upon return to the Classic IV, I took the opportunity to take a shower before claiming our table on the side deck to catch up on the journal before the cooking demonstration at 1630. The boat has just returned to Dong Tien Lake for the evening.
The local beer Jonathan and I shared before lunch.
Evidence of lunch - buffet style.
Capturing some of the light/dark patterns in the stone of the karst.
Canine residents of a floating platform.
Sheri got the lead seat - looking at the video below, it should have come with hazard pay.
Jonathan.
Jack - I had to include the rower on the other sampan and her lovely smile in the image.
Our destination comes into view.
A couple kayakers proved some scale.
John and Barbara.
The other sampan.
I was tremendously envious of the location of this gentleman's desk.
Steve and Gwen.
Another cave penetrating a karst.
'Um, I thought we had more kayaks?' Their kayaks floated away on the rising tide.
The other members of the party emerge from the cave to assess the situation.
Nothing to do but wait…
…while the guide retrieves the errant kayaks.
Prior to dinner, the chef on the Classic IV gave a cooking class on how to prepare Vietnamese spring rolls. The class was a high spirited affair (lubricated by Happy Hour). Our host was a young lady from one of the Vietnamese hill tribes named Liu, who was addressed as Lulu. She had good English although not as polished as Hung or Truong. So she narrated the proceedings with a good sense of humor describing the various ingredients, their prep (chopchopchop), assembly of the spring roll, and its cooking. So during the demonstration Liu called for volunteers, and I went up to assemble a spring roll. Not difficult at all. As the demonstration proceeded other folks got a chance to assemble the delicacies, and at the end we got to eat them. The crew provided the printed recipe which I'll post with the travelogue.
After a dinner that was the most distinguished of the tour so far, we retired to our cabin at ~2100.
Another boat sharing the cove at night.
Liuliu and Cook.
Beginning the spring roll wrapping competition.
The result - fried spring rolls! Yummy!
Fish soup with pineapple.
Deep-fried Ha Long Minced Seafood on Lemongrass, served with Chili Dipping Sauce.
Banana Flower Salad. The entree and dessert escaped the camera but not my fork!
