Blogs from Northeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 26

Departing from Hanoi we set off for the 4 hour mini-van ride to Halong Bay where our 3 day, 2 night cruise departed from. The beauty and uniqueness of this place cannot be described in words but we'll try... After the 4 hour ride, we set sail through Halong Bay on a motorized "junk" sailboat steering through freighters, tug boats and other ships. As we received our welcome watermelon fruit smoothies - Seth was in heaven... we were already able to see some of the over 1,960 islets of the greater Bay area. Stunning! From afar they appeared as a mountainous range, however, as we neared closer they were in fact massive rocks somewhat covered in greenery jutting out of the water and peaking at heights up to 330 feet. We were on a ship called ... read more

Diumenge, 7 d’agost – Halong Bay, un dels llocs mes increibles del mon De bon mati ens hem llevat I a les 7 ja erem esmorzant al restaurant de l’hotel. A l’arribar a l’Asia ja ens podem permetre certs luxes com per exemple hotels I fins I tot amb esmorzar. Ens allotjem al Hanoi Moment Hotel, al mig del barri antic I la veritat es que va ser una gran trovalla! Gracies al tripadvisor! L’hotel es petit, I tambe ho es el restaurant, aixi que hem compartit taula amb una parella d’anglesos, mes grans I que havien arribat feia 2 dies a Vietnam. El seu plan era anar fins a Ho Chi Minh city amb tren I creuar amb bus a Phnom Penh, la capital de Cambodja I fins a Siem Reap on hi ha els ... read more

We spent only 1 night (2 days) in Ha Long day. It was definitely not enough. After leaving Ha Long Bay we returned to Hanoi via a 3 hour minibus ride. It rained on the road and it still amazes me how these people manage to don ponchos while driving their scooters at 40-80km/h. It also never rains with a lightning storm. We have yet to hear thunder, though. Which is odd, because I'm used to seeing lightning and then hearing the thunder a few seconds afterwards. Upon our arrival Claire went for a lie-down as she was feeling a bit sick. I went for a walk through Hanoi's Old Quarter (my usual haunt nowadays, it seems) and promptly got lost. At one point I stopped at a small cafe and ordered my first iced coffee ... read more

Walking down a path in the majestic region of Sapa, I venture towards a mountain village, which for the moment lays hidden in mist. A woman approaches pushing a wheel barrow, her aged face warm with hope. Getting closer, I see her retarded son lying still and uncomfortable in the wheel barrow. Removing her bandaged fingers from the handle, she extends her hand. I couldn’t help feel a little confronted. I take out my wallet packed with a Vietnamese annual salary and remove a few dollars. Continuing further down, the serenity is picture perfect… almost. The small path is lined with even smaller shops bearing hand-made craft. A shopkeeper, dressed in traditional clothing sits on a plastic chair drinking Coca Cola out of a straw. The beautiful tribal huts are connected by a thick black electrical ... read more

Halong Bay consists of hundreds of rocky island cliffs shooting up from the sea randomly like an obstacle course of floating islands from Avatar. A junk boat is a three or four story cruise ship that looks a lot like a pirate ship. Our junk boat was not junky at all, actually it was fit for kings and queens. The dining hall where they fed us extravagant 7 course meals had glass doors and windows all around. Our room had a/c, a full bath, nice beds and huge windows. On the top deck there were lounge chairs so you could relax like a guilty pirate taking in your fortune to be in such an unreal place. Halong Bay is petitioning to become one of the new 7 wonders of nature so the government is aggressively protecting ... read more