After leaving the cruise ship (?) and re joining the rest of the tour group
we went to an Cultivated Pearl Farm and got to see the beginning to end of a pearl's life
Above are pictures of different types of oyster/pearl shells and where they are from
Before 1893 only natural pearls were sought after..."Kokichi Mikimoto was a Japanese entrepreneur
who is credited with creating the first cultured pearl and subsequently starting the pearl industry with the establishment of his luxury pearl company Mikimoto"

These types of oysters produce Black Pearls

These types of oysters produce Ivory pearls

Mom, this these type of shells are harvested for the Mother of pearl.
Where your necklace came from!

Ha Long Bay Cruise
Day 3 of Tour

Up close and personal with the Emerald waters
of Ha Long Bay

Does this picture make you think of pirates and mermaids...that's what I thought of!

Panoramic View of the main cave
I kind of feel like I'm under water in the photo, the blue lights give
it a strange feeling

Descending Dragons are all around us here...

Our small boat (light colored roof) way...way down...waiting

Although this is not the best quality picture, it does show you just how far down
the rest of the tourists are. Or how high Glen and I are coming out of the cave

The main cavern is called by some the "Cave of Unfathomable Depth"
This section is just one part of the 10,000m2 area under ground
I hope the pictures show just how amazing it was/is

The cave's ceiling is approximately 30 m high
This area of the cave is known as the Serene Castle

The walls in places are almost perfectly smooth, as if built/carved by man.

On our way to Hang Sung Sot "Cave of Surprises"
along with five other boats filled with tourists
All scrambling up the very steep and slippery rock stairs that are shrouded
in thick foliage
The climb is well worth the effort

Supper on the boat

Creamy Broccoli with Scallop Soup

Steamed prawn, wrapped 5 spice beef in noodle and dipping sauce

Chicken and onion salad

Pan fried sea bass, mashed potato, pok choy and carrot

Hand made crepe with Banana butter and fresh cream
Enjoy!

Another traditional Junk

Our Captains's quarters on our ship
Yes that is the steering wheel

Panoramic view of the bay and other cruise ships, fishing boats

We got to go the caverns cut into the limestone with a guide who did not speak any english...
but she pointed out a number of things 

Our wee wooden boat had 10 good sized people in it, but our rower (elderly woman)
had no problem moving us for over an hour.
 At some points during the tour the water became very shallow and I thought for sure that
some of the men were going to have to get out and push...but that never occurred...thankfully

Most days the weather is bright and sunny, we experienced a different type of day
Drizzly, foggy, heavy sky and over cast
This is the only day that I wished that we had packed jackets

Traditional Junk with  Fabulous sails.
Exactly the type of boat that we expected to see on Ha Long Bay
This type of junk is usually owned by a single family

Part of the 5 Star experience included an overnight tour of Ha Long Bay, which is an Unesco World Heritage Site.
One of the reasons that truly sold this tour for us!
"Ha Long" means descending Dragon 

Ha Long Bay is in the gulf of Tonkin, North East of Hanoi and includes over 1600 islands
& islets made up of limestone pillars.
According to the Unesco. org website "most of the area is unaffected by a human presence"
however the boat cruise lanes were littered with garbage, which I found very depressing.
Our boat crew was fishing bottles and other recyclables out of the water and then some 'idiot' would
throw another one over board

This boat was very similar to the one that we were on.
Although ours did have the traditional "Junk" sails

Two water birds doing a mating dance

Dragon puppet swimming

Puppeteer's taking a bow at the end

If you wish to experience a "Live performance" feel free to watch a YouTube video
& search for Hanoi water puppet

Musician's to the left and right...main stage with three feet of water in and around
the temple

First puppet to 'surface'
Wooden puppets are attached by their feet to long bamboo poles, which are completely
 holed out to attach the strings to in order to move the facial features and the other body parts

Fire works display

Water Puppetry is an unusual form of live theatre and according to our guide
this one in Hanoi is one of the best in the country. It was created in the 17th century by the people of the Red River Delta
region. Which is Northern Vietnam, Hanoi specifically

Hopefully you will see that this show is done in water, that the puppeteer's are behind the scenes and that the puppets
themselves 'swim, leap and dance' in, through and under the water.
It was a very unique experience!
The following photos turned out as well as I expected them too...
The lighting was greens and reds mostly which made the pictures come out a little off. 

More things and places that we saw

Former Cruise Ship turned restaurant

On our way to the theater to watch a Water Puppet Show

Daily Life in Hanoi
Random sites from the cyclo tour

In 'competition' for the most things on a cart...

And the Winner is...

Cyclo Tour through downtown Hanoi

Glen and his 'driver'

Me and mine
I'm not a fan of the selfie. I find that I always have
the camera at a weird angle