By far, the most memorable part of the day was our stop in the floating village of Cua Van. Unlike the “floating markets” of Palembang, which are tied to the sides of the river, Cua Van is an isolated little village of 122 household (600 people) hugging the coast of small, vertical rock formations that jump out of the water, located 30 km from Ha Long Harbor (the nearest city). Their homes are the size of my living room, and all of them float individually on wood and bamboo rafts. Kids and their parents row around on little turtle-shell shaped boats… and almost every home (and fishing boat) had at least 1 dog on board (= not one blade of grass or a yard to play in, and these folks all had pet dogs. I love it! I want a dog when I get home.

Ladies with boats loaded with snacks rowed over to our junket like floating convenience stores… to sell whatever grabbed our fancy. I was really hoping for M&Ms, but settled for a box of Choco-pies and Oreos. (=

My absolute favorite moment was rowing up to the little floating school, which was just letting out of class. Kids from 5-12 years old came running out with their oversized back-packs, and jumped into their own little turtle-shells to row themselves home across the lagoon.
How many parents wouldn’t let their kids walk home from school unescorted back home, let alone 7 year olds picking up their 5 year old brothers & sisters in a raft & rowing them home across a lagoon? Ha ha. Amazing,,, but that’s life here!