Halong Bay, Vietnam.

We set sail on a two-day cruise of majestic Halong Bay. The bay is filled with 3000 or more individual islands, many of which jut dramatically skyward. "Halong translates as 'where the dragon descends into the sea.' Legend has it that the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon that lived in the mountains. As it ran towards the coast, its flailing gouged out valleys and crevasses; as it plunged into the sea, the areas dug up by the tail became filled with water, leaving only the high land visible." (Lonely Planet)

Blessed with great weather, we also hiked down into a spectacular cave and paddled a kayak around some of the islands. Once we got back into Hanoi, we took in a show of the famous water puppets (roi nuoc). Tomorrow, we'll tour around Hanoi for one last day before taking another overnight train to the city of Hue.