Blogs from Northeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 22

According to my intrepid guide book... Local legend says that long ago when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons descended upon what is now Halong Bay and began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form barriers against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam... Designated a World Heritage site in 1994, Halong Bay has around two thousand islands that rise from the jade green water of the Gulf of Tonkin. Several of the islands are hollow with enormous caves. We docked and visited a huge cavern called Suprise Cave, so called because when the French discovered it ... read more

So we assumed our best pirate accents, set sail into the depths of Halong Bay and watched in awe as thousands of lone islands loomed out of the mist... Then we had a lovely dinner and sang Karaoke into the night.... Also the Suprising/Amazing cave (I'm not kidding that is the official name) was indeed suprising/amazing. And our journey south begins!... read more

30.3.2012 We arrived in Hanoi quite late and decided to get a bus to our hotel. It was in the old quarter. We were stuffed into a mini bus with more people in seats and gave the adress to the driver. We had no idea where we would end up, but after an hour and a half we somehow ended up at our hotel. We checked in and Skyped Laura and Pete and got to speak to baby Erin Grace. 31.3.2012 We booked a trip to Halong Bay this morning. We went round a few places but decided on the boat that the guy in the hotel was offering, which turned out to be a big mistake! We walked around the Old Quarter of the city and it is very nice. There is a big lake ... read more

HAVING SPENT TWO EXTRA (unwanted) days in Hue we just barely had enough time to breathe in Hanoi’s heavy, wet air suffused with the faint smell of flowers. When we arrived it was a chilly 50 degrees and rainy. It reminded me of New York City on a fall night – narrow lanes lined with hip shops, restaurants, and dark bars surrounded on all sides by a large, reverberating city. We only had the evening to stroll around as we were leaving in the morning for an all day tour of Halong Bay. After grabbing dinner and a cup of coffee at a neighboring restaurant which was housed in an ancient shop house we took a stroll through the streets to get a feel for the city. An older woman wearing the infamous conical hat ... read more

Bonjour tout le monde!! Nous avons fait un séjour de deux jours à la baie d'Ha Long, sur le bateau "La Paloma". La chambre était très bien, salle de bain intégrée. Les repas étaient pas mal copieux, tout ça pour environ 100$ (dépendant toujours de l'agence avec qui vous faites affaire!!!!). Il y avait un brouillard assez épais, du genre qu'on voit rien du tout (aucun remboursement, même dû au mauvais temps). Nous sommes allés voir un village flottant où les gens y vivent depuis des générations. Il y a des maisons qui ont l'électricité et même, croyez-le ou pas, le câble! Il existe un "bateau poubelle" qui vient ramasser tous les déchets autour du village. Vu la situation de célibat pour ces personnes vivant sur l'eau, les mariages sont souvent pré-arrangés. Le 2e jour, nous ... read more