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Published: November 4th 2005
Halong Bay
The view was stunning.We arrived in Hanoi, which is the second biggest city in Vietnam. This was a stop on the major bus route so that we could get to Halong Bay. Hanoi was just another big city... but it had something special about it which I can't describe. It showed true Vietnemese culture; Vendors carrying long poles over their shoulders with baskets on either side; cone shaped hats; crowds of Vietnemese guys around 10 cent beer stands; menus at restaurants serving fried pig ovaries or marinated dog steak; a billion motorcycles zooming and weaving around animals, vendors, pedestrians, and cyclos (bicycle taxis with carriage on front), thousands of counterfit products, and of course motorcycle drivers strategicaly placed on every corner to harrass you.
Speaking of counterfit products, we all ran into a dvd store. Between the 3 of us, 350 dvd's will be smuggled into Canada come Christmas time! How much did this cost us? $350!
We made our way to Halong Bay, which is famous for thousands of islands scattered amongst beautiful beaches. We opted to take a 3 day boat cruise, where we slept on the boat for one night. The boat was made of wood, had an upstairs
Street Vendor
They would carry all sorts of WEIRD stuff in these baskets. deck, a middle restaurant, and rooms to sleep in down low. We didnt do much this trip, but we saw a lot! Take a look at the pictures of Halong Bay.
We stayed on a beautiful island named Cat Ba island for one night, and the next day we hiked to its highest peak overlooking all of the islands. It was an amazing sight. Vietnemese jungle looking one way, and hundreds of green lush islands spread across the ocean when looking the other way.
After the boat cruise, we made our way back to Hanoi to await our flight for Bangkok. Our 1.5 Hr air bus with leather seats cost us only $25 US- what a bargain!
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