Blogs from Halong Bay, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia
May 19th 2012
We hadden een Halong Bay trip geboekt, 2 dagen en 1 nacht op de boot slapen. Dus we werden vroeg opgehaald om vervolgens 4 uur met de bus naar Halong Bay te rijden. Aangekomen werden we naar de boot gebracht. Eerst lunch om vervolgens de grot te bekijken, een mooie grot maar na de grotten van Laos was ik toch niet gewend aan al die toeristen en aan trappen in een grot! Maar ja dat krijg je met georganiseerde tripjes. Die dag ook nog gekayakt in halong bay. Ik moet zeggen dat het wel een erg mooi stukje natuur is dus logisch dat al die toeristen daar op afkomen. s'Avond leuk feestje gebouwd op de boot want we hadden een gezellige groep mensen bij elkaar. Om middernacht was Kim jarig dus dat hebben we ook gevierd! ... read more
May 12th 2012
Halong Bay is in northern Vietnam, 170 km (105 mi) east of Hanoi. The bay is famous for its scenic ocean karst topography and is often included in lists as one of the Seven natural wonders of the world. This unique UNESCO World Heritage Site is a popular place for tourists but it is good to know that large parts of Ha Long Bay are officially protected from development. The islands vary greatly in size and shape as well as structure.Visitors should allow a few days to explore this magical bay as its attractions are extremely numerous. ... read more
May 2nd 2012
Overnight stay at Halong Bay, Vietnam. It was nice, relaxing, just like the brochure really. We did some kayaking, swimming and visited a huge limestone cave. A nice peaceful side trip from Hanoi.... read more
April 7th 2012
Halong Bay, what's the big deal? Well if you describe it statistically, it's a water body of about 1.5 square kilometres with an 120km coastline in the Gulf of Tonkin, near the border with China and 170km east of Hanoi. It has 1,969 limestone 'islands' the tops covered with trees. It had UNESCO world heritage status from 1994, but since 2011 has been upgraded to one of only seven natural wonders of the world. If you describe it mythically, it's local legend tells of a family of dragons sent by the gods to help defend the land from the invading Chinese. The dragons descended upon the area now known as Ha Long Bay and began spitting out jewels and jade, which turned into islands, linking together to form a barrier against the invaders. If you describe ... read more
Halong Bay, where the dragon descends into the sea...
Published: April 5th 2012Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Halong Bay
April 2nd 2012
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
March 31st 2012
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
Ha Noi traffic madness and party time in Ha Long Bay
Published: March 31st 2012Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Halong Bay
March 31st 2012
After a quick 45 minute flight to Hanoi airport from Viantiene, compared to the 26 hour bus, I stepped out into noticeably cooler air and soon found the airport shuttle which takes people the 30km into town for a measley $2. My first taste of Hanoi and Vietnam traffic came as somewhat of a shock and it wasnt long before I was cowering behind my backpack wondering how on earth we were going to make it into town alive and also how anyone still had their driver's licence in this country. There appeared to be no rules on the road other than 1. You are not allowed to use your brakes at any point 2. Indicators are to be replaced by the use of the horn and 3. Cross roads and T-Junctions are not places to ... read more
Hanoi and Halong Bay: The Highlights of Vietnam!
Published: April 16th 2012Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Halong Bay
March 27th 2012
We returned to Vietnam for about a week on 23rdMarch to explore the northern capitol Hanoi and visit the magical Halong Bay. Boy were we in for a treat! Hanoi is the capitol city of Vietnam and returning there after the protected peaceful retreat in Luang Prabang was a shock to the system initially. It is a very busy place but the thing to note was the traffic. This was something to behold in the southern city of Saigon too but everything seemed amplified in good old Hanoi. I haven’t mentioned the traffic too much so far but here was on the extreme end. Basically the “rules” are the biggest vehicle on the road has right away. This is all good if you are a massive lorry or even a coach but the problem begins when ... read more
March 26th 2012
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
