Having finally caught the cold going around our Ha Giang loop group, we spent most of the day in bed. Some warm soup, and delicious banh mi helped us stay warm in our coldest city yet! 

Still recovering, we ventured out for lunch and some sights: the Dong Xuan market, the Bach Ma temple, and a heritage house. The market and temple were worth it, but having visited Hoi An, the appeal just a single maintained house from 150 years ago paled at the many we saw. 

Having likely pushed ourselves a little too far, we indulged in our first delivery dinner of the trip of vegan banh mi and did some repacking and blog work. 

Women were a key part of the Viet Cong effort. More than 50% of the active participants in the resistance were women, and there was an entire floor with plaques devoted to the bravery and sacrifice of those trying to defend their way of life.

Ha long bay is a geological marvel where the cliff we have seen all over south east asia end up partially submerged in a bay off the south china sea. 

We were the youngest people on the tour by a wide margin, but enjoyed it nonetheless. A long van ride out was interrupted by a stop at a pearl store that was a common stop for buses on the route. 

Once there we enjoyed the views, stopped on an island to hike up for a view, went inside an enormous cave, and rode smaller paddle boats around the interior of one of the monoliths; all the while large brown eagles circled and dove towards the water, occasionally retreating to nests high on the partially submerged mountains. 

While definitely a more touristy way to visit an already very touristed (sure, that's a word) area, the fame of the bay is definitely earned by the beauty.