Ha Long City Not Really Much Going On Except the Bay

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When we arrived in Vietnam, we arrived at the Hanoi airport at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, it was hotter than a you-know-what like Thailand. From there we had a three-hour drive to Ha Long City, which is basically a new city by the bay whose sole purpose is to cater to tourists. However, seeing as how Vietnam is communist (although it is slowly becoming less and less strict), and they are just jumping into the tourism business, it wasn’t all that fantastic to visit. The only thing worth seeing here was Ha Long Bay (for the trivia nerds, “Ha Long” means “dragon descending”). So, basically stay a day or so—long enough to see the bay—then leave. The townspeople here are strange too, so I wouldn’t even suggest going to canoodle with natives; save that for another town.

What we did/Where to go:

1. Ha Long Bay: This should be on everyone’s “Places To Go Before I Die” list. I don’t think I have an adequate enough vocabulary to even begin singing the praises of this place. Peaceful, soft winds, unique scenery…and dead jellyfish on the beach to boot!

2. The Caves at Ha Long Bay: I haven’t been to many caves in my life, but the ones I have gone to I liked. These rocked! Colorful lighting, dolphin shaped trash cans, phallic symbols in the rocks, stalagmites and stalactites galore…and it was cool inside! One part of the caves looked like where the Fraggles lived from Fraggle Rock. That was a nice piece of nostalgia from one of my favorite childhood shows.

After we escaped Ha Long City, we went back to Hanoi for a couple of days.

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Photos

Ha Long Bay
Dragon Descending Bay is really relaxing.

Wow
Ooooh...the colors...

Fraggle Rock?
I swear I remember seeing this part in a Fraggle Rock episode...or in The Goonies