Halong Bay-ing

There are so many cool things about this trip that have been going on so far, I would be writing a book if I named all of them but there are two things in particular that I hear us talk about the most. One is the fact that we all get along so well and are such great friends already and two; that we get to do so many amazing things that push us out of our comfort zones. We are now half way through the trip and have experienced so many new things together, I'm so beyond content with everything that we have done so far! We just finished our last trek and I think most of us are slightly glad because they were physically exhausting and mentally challenging. But this trek we had something to look forward to at the end that was extra special. We were headed to Ha Long Bay! I didn't expect much when I read that we were on our way to Ha Long Bay next and that we were staying on a boat for a couple of nights and doing activities there. We were all going into this with no expectations or with some idea of what it might be like but, we were completely shocked at what we were given for these next few days when we arrived! We got to stay on a simply beautiful boat with comfortable rooms and spectacular views. We were spoiled with sights all around us of limestone rocks spread amongst the bay of teal blue water! It was refreshing to relax on the beach and kayak into caves after some long travel days and a hard trek. Together we all relaxed, enjoyed some great food and bonded even more! Not only did we relax, but we did manage to dance crazy on our fun little boat during our SUPER awesome PD Prom experience. We took some not so typical and typical Prom photos and danced to fun music on the deck. It was a cool experience recreating Prom for those who have never been asked or been to a prom since our fellow UK friends don't have one back home. Our short 2 nights on the boat flew by but they were pretty memorable and incredible days. I think for a lot of people this was a highlight of our adventure so far, it definitely was for me! - Madeleine Dutcher