Tadsee Waterfall near Luang Prabang Laos.

Limestone has been eroded into soft rolling cascades of cool water off the mountain.

In the tour package I purchased an unguided kayaking trip was included. I could have spent an entire day exploring the bay but was only given an hour. Getting close to the karsts is when you realize just how amazing the bay is. The water is smooth as glass and about 30 feet deep. I saw some golden eagles dipping to the water to catch fish and I was told that north of the bay there are several Bald Eagles.

Ha Long Bay from the upper opening of the cave, provided the only high long distance views I was able to see. Quite spectacular, but the pictures just can't capture the beauty and serenity you felt here. Even with the boats and all the tourists it was peaceful and far to relaxing, I could have spent more time just cruising the bay.

The cave we visited was massive and dead center of one of the karsts. You could easily see that it had been filled with water by the erosion on the roof, it looks like waves on the surface of

an ocean. They added lighting in '97 and walkways. Until then anyone who entered came with flashlight and also took several souviniers in the form of stalagmites of which there is lingering evidence.

There is a great deal of fishing on the bay, some illegal, such as dropping dynamite overboard as this fisherman had just done and then netting the results. Most of the fish are small, but numerous and there are also large squid at certain times of the year. They catch the squid on a jig, when the squid are red they're hungry when they are full they sink to the bottom. One of the guides on the boat told me he caught about 30 in 15 minutes, unfortunately the squid were not running the night I was there.

You can see the erosion marks on the bottom of the karsts. It has been estimated that the karsts have been exposed to tidal current for about 3 million years. The tides are extreme but very gentle, absolutely no waves and very slow current. I can see why it took so long for the erosion to get to where it is. To the right of the karst is one of three floating villages in Ha Long Bay to the left are local fisherman.

Our captain had a very relaxed attitude to his piloting duties. We were cruising at maybe 3 miles an hour so I suppose it could get a might boring sitting there. The harbor was a different story. There are junks everywhere going in every imaginable direction. The scene was reminiscent to bumper cars but with no contact.