Today we woke up bright and early. 8 adults, 1 teenager, & 4 babies left on a 3 hour bus ride for Ha Long Bay. I am not sure I will get this right but the other kids that are being adopted are 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 15 months and 3 years.
On the ride up to Ha Long Bay we stopped at a tourist trap with all kinds of goods to buy. And of course we bought... It is a good thing that they only gave us a 10 minute stop at that location. It was really interesting, a variety of silk items were being made on site. The women are amazing and quick seamstresses. We are buying gifts for family and also trying to pick up a gift to give Ava each year until she turns 16. Hopefully we will be able to come back and visit around that time and she will be able to pick out her own gifts.
As you may guess a 3 hour van ride with that many kids was fun. I find it interesting that they don't get worked up by other babies crying (I guess crying babies were a usual sound in their orphanages). The other really cool thing is they already know who is their mom and dad. Children are just sooooo amazing.
When we arrived at Ha Long Bay there were a lot of tourists getting on tour boats, just like us. Our boat was beyond comfortable and the family running it was very hospitable. We could choose to be on the top deck outside or inside where it was warm and we could see out windows. Due to the babies, we stayed inside most of the time. It was about 70 degrees. The sea is beautiful and these huge rock island jut up out of the sea. It is legend that the rock islands are there to protect the main land. On the way out to our first stop we were fed an amazing seafood dinner. Kurt was in his glory. Shrimp, crab, sea bass, octopus - you name it, he ate it.
On the ride up to Ha Long Bay we stopped at a tourist trap with all kinds of goods to buy. And of course we bought... It is a good thing that they only gave us a 10 minute stop at that location. It was really interesting, a variety of silk items were being made on site. The women are amazing and quick seamstresses. We are buying gifts for family and also trying to pick up a gift to give Ava each year until she turns 16. Hopefully we will be able to come back and visit around that time and she will be able to pick out her own gifts.
As you may guess a 3 hour van ride with that many kids was fun. I find it interesting that they don't get worked up by other babies crying (I guess crying babies were a usual sound in their orphanages). The other really cool thing is they already know who is their mom and dad. Children are just sooooo amazing.
When we arrived at Ha Long Bay there were a lot of tourists getting on tour boats, just like us. Our boat was beyond comfortable and the family running it was very hospitable. We could choose to be on the top deck outside or inside where it was warm and we could see out windows. Due to the babies, we stayed inside most of the time. It was about 70 degrees. The sea is beautiful and these huge rock island jut up out of the sea. It is legend that the rock islands are there to protect the main land. On the way out to our first stop we were fed an amazing seafood dinner. Kurt was in his glory. Shrimp, crab, sea bass, octopus - you name it, he ate it.
We got off the boat at Thien Cung Gratto. The caves and legends are very interesting and beautiful. Ava did not go with us into the caves because she was sleeping and the woman helping run the boat was so enamored by her that she offered to hold her on the boat until we got back. One other U.S. mom stayed on the boat with her baby because we had to hike some pretty good stairs to get up to the caves. I am not sure I would have left her on the boat if the other mom had not stayed... We also stopped on an island where we would have been able to swim if we had wanted, but it was too cold. So we just walked around and soaked up the beauty. To be honest, Ava was kind of fussy on this trip - I had to barrow a bottle and it had a strange nipple. I packed her diaper bag with everything but the kitchen sink and her bottle. I won't make that mistake again! But we all made it through and we had a good time.
The van ride home consisted of sleeping, laughing, and crying babies. I am not sure who was more worn out the adults or the babies. When we got back to the hotel everyone went back to their room to go to sleep - including us. Ava slept from 9-2 and 2:45-6:30, she is a pretty good sleeper.
1 comment:
Wow! Ha Long Bay looks incredibly beautiful. Great photos. And the CAVE - very cool! (Remind me to share with you our cave story from Belize.) It sounds like things are going so well with the three of you. The seafood sounds yummy too.
Thank you for sharing!!!
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