Vietnam Kayak Trip

More than just a spectacular place to kayak, Vietnam's Ha Long Bay is UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Here, a community of permanently nomadic boat people live their entire lives on water among the 3,000 islands. In our travels through the Ha Long archipelago, we will discover the beauty of the limestone caves, delight in fresh seafood each day, and observe the unique lifestyle of the Vietnamese fishermen.

Paddling between islands is limited to quarter-mile crossings. Most paddling is on a placid bay, with a few short exposures to the sea swells on the outside of the islands.

The beauty of Ha Long is more than skin deep, as you'll see on each of many excursions into the sea caves. Some are only a few meters long. Some, with huge vaulted ceilings, feel like a cathedral in the rock and run a half mile into the island.

For the second week of our trip, we'll move to Ba Be National Park and the mountains north of Hanoi. The hardwood rainforest there is spectacular. We'll kayak on Ba Be Lake, then paddle down a small river that tunnels through an enormous mountain cave. A highlight of this week will be the day we spend among the Tay people in an idyllic lakeshore village.

Wildlife will thrill us -- huge white and brown jellyfish peacefully gliding in the green water, dolphins leaping ahead of our ship, black kites and white fronted sea eagles soaring around the promontories, macaques interacting in the phongs. Vietnam will definitely be one of the places that lingers in your memory and you'll feelwhen you remember your days there.