Halong Bay is four hour journey by bus from Hanoi and than by Chinese style junk boat to the islands. The boats are luxurious with air conditioned rooms showers bars and restaurants and other activities.
Halong Bay has thousands of little islands in various shapes and sizes close to each other and many interesting caves with stalagmites and stalactites The creeping sunlight in to the caves has a stunning effect inside the caves.
We visited a few islands with caves and went to a small island beach for a swim. For the first time did kayaking in the sea which was an interesting experience. Having never done it before the first half hour was a little frightening considering we had to dodge a few large boats coming our way.
The other tourists on the boat, mainly Australians, were great company and have exchanged email addresses and may go and see them , time permitting.
A visit to this area is highly recommended as I don`t think there is anything like this anywhere else in the world.
effect of sunlight in the cave
a very large cave on an island
view of the islands in the bay
boats in the bayHanoi 18th Oct-21st Oct.
Hanoi the capital of Vietnam was not much of place after the Vietnam war in the late seventies.Until the mid nineties the main mode of transport was bicycles and rickshaws commonly called cyclos. Now it has a population of 6 million people and 3 million motorbikes. Most of these always seem to be on the road and crossing the road can be a little tricky. In fact there are some tall buildings by the inter sections of the road where one can sit, have a drink and watch the traffic. Very interesting and difficult to get a table in the bar or restaurant.
As a capital for over 1000 years it is considered to be the cultural capital of Vietnam and has many historic monuments like the one pillar pagoda, the temple of literature and the old quarters which still has the original street layouts. In the old quarter particular streets would be selling one particular products. For example you would find a street that would only sell handbags and the shops in the other street would be selling only washing machines. The city has numerous lakes the most famous being Hoan Kiem lake.
Our hotel was in the middle of the old quarter and the staff at the hotel could not be more friendly and helpful. They arranged all the tours and travel tickets for us and would send one of the staff to make sure we got on the right bus or the right train and into the right coach. The rooms were excellent clean and spacious and came with a computer and free use of Internet. Charge per day $22.
Travelling in Cyclo in the rush hour.
One pillar pagoda, interesting building
Ho Chi Minh monument.
Bonsai tree. Very old tree.
a View form the lake
On the bridge in the lake
Hi Pravin Hi Rekha
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you lot look fresh as at the start of the trip.Hope you continue enjoying every moment.Wishing you well.
i cannot over the bonsai tree it is awesome
ReplyDeletei wish i was there