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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2009 18:43:48 GMT
Thread created by kerouac2Local legend has it 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 began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam. After that, dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth and decided to live here then. The place where Mother Dragon flew down was named Hạ Long.Anybody who saw the movie Indochine saw many images of Halong Bay, and of course I knew that I had to see if for myself one day. I was in Hanoi and paid for a 2-night 3-day excursion to the Bay of Halong for $30, accommodation and all meals included. This is what part of Halong Bay looks like on Google Earth. The excursion left Hanoi early one morning and took the freeway to Haiphong, another city that I never dreamed that I would ever see. As a teenager, I had seen it being relentlessly bombed on television, as apparently the people living there were evil and deserved to die. The houses along the road seemed quite pleasant to me, and I would have loved to do some gardening there. After a few hours we arrived in the city of Ha Long, where we were served lunch at this establishment. Then it was time to get on the boat to Cat Ba Island, where the hotel was located. Adventure on the Sea of China at last! (to be continued)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2009 19:23:00 GMT
Unfortunately, the atmosphere in all that part of Asia is rarely clear. Any amateur like me who has ever tried to take good clear pictures of Hong Kong, for example, knows what I mean. The air is nearly always thick from humidity and nothing looks sharp. But I suppose that part of the charm of the bay is allowing oneself to be enveloped in the thick tropical air. After an hour or two of our little boat chugging through the bay and around the islands, we finally approached Cat Ba. Cat Ba was already quite built up with tourist hotels which faced the bay and had their backs up against a cliff. (to be continued)
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 27, 2009 20:28:26 GMT
Oooooo ~~ this is great!
I love the misty pictures. They make me feel as though I'm really on the water there.
There is something about "tropical" that feels alien to the rest of the world -- as though the inhabitants have some secret left over from Eden that they'd share with others willing to let down their modern guard.
Reading your comments about wanting to garden by those houses alongside the rode reminds me of the way I feel travelling through places like Tabasco.
Can't wait for the continuation.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2009 20:39:13 GMT
It had been a long day on the road and in a boat, so we just settled into the hotel for the night. After dinner, which was inadequate, some of us settled down for some liquid sustenance and enjoyed watching the boats bobbing on the water in the dark. We didn't stay out very long, though, because Cat Ba is the sort of town that rolls in the sidewalks by about 21:30. I was nevertheless pleased to have chosen a land-based excursion rather than the boats with sleeping quarters (back then there was no luxury anyway, so I wouldn't even have called them 'cabins') -- I like to be able to walk around at will and I was happy to be able to wander around in the quiet of the night, joined by a very pleasant South African. The next morning, we obviously went boating again. There were even some caverns to explore. At the end of the day, the air was clearer. After another night in tranquil Cat Ba, it was time for me to return to Hanoi with half of the group. The other half were going trekking in a national park, but I had come to ride around on a boat, not to wear myself out in the hills in the tropical heat. Here is the hotel where I had my last breakfast before leaving.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 28, 2009 2:32:34 GMT
That was a trip to remember always! I can see how that area gave rise to myths about jewel-spitting dragons and the like.
We are SO lucky that you saved pictures from your excursions and that you are willing to scan & share them. Thanks to you (& to HW) I am building up a much more complete mental picture of SE Asia than I ever had before.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2009 5:50:37 GMT
One last one...
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Post by spindrift on Apr 28, 2009 16:48:42 GMT
I enjoyed my photographic tour of Halong Bay. If I went there I'd be hoping for sunshine. Is the climate too misty and tropical to allow sun to penetrate? What time of the year did you go? The accommodation looked a bit primitive but I like that sort of thing.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2009 17:07:29 GMT
Have you ever been to Hong Kong? As I said, the climate seemed similar -- what I would generally call 'hazy'. It can be hazy sunshine or hazy grey or hazy rain -- I'm certain that there are even magical clear days from time to time.
The hotel was fine. It was the normal basic Vietnamese hotel. If it had not been included in the tour, I assume that it would have cost $8-10 a night, and it had a refrigerator and satellite television. Dreadful taste in decorating, of course, but I consider that to be part of the charm.
That trip was about 10 years ago, however, and I am certain that luxury tourism has arrived at Cat Ba now -- all one needs to do it check the web for glimpses of the offerings.
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Post by spindrift on Apr 28, 2009 21:56:30 GMT
I've never visited Hong Kong...but I've experienced those disappointing days in Bangkok. I've never yet had a clear day there and the river water has always been in a whipped up state and grey and nasty like in england. It's not a very exciting city; perhaps it's even dreadful apart from the Jim Thompsons main store. What else do I remember? Dirty, stinking pavements, disagreeable looking people, hookers and their clients...dirty tablecloths in cheap restaurants..although The Sukothai (hotel) is very smart and I'd go there again. Sorry, thread jack.
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Post by hwinpp on Apr 29, 2009 6:34:08 GMT
I enjoyed my trip to Halong Bay. I also spent the night on land, actually two nights. We went in August and were lucky in that it didn't rain once. The problem with Halong is that if you go in the dry season it's actually Winter up there. And too cold to swim. I was also mostly disappointed by the food, K2. Once we got five different dishes but they all looked the same. The only thing that changed was the meat...
The food on the island was much better. But then it wasn't included in the tour and we could organise that ourselves.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2011 9:08:26 GMT
There was a major accident in Halong Bay last night, (at least) 12 dead. article here
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Post by gertie on Feb 17, 2011 15:30:38 GMT
How terrible! It must have gone down very fast.
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Post by hwinpp on Feb 18, 2011 7:43:24 GMT
The company that operates this boat has had problems before. Apparently they already lost a boat with 4 drowned in 2009. That one was due to a storm.
This one just sank after it filled up with water overnight.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2011 10:56:45 GMT
In the early days, they didn't have the luxury boats, and people spending the night would sleep on the deck. Sounded like more fun (and safer!) except that there were always reports of rats running around.
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Post by gertie on Feb 18, 2011 12:51:42 GMT
K2, I want to be interested in your post about the early days, but then I saw the word "Rats" and now I'm just stuck on Eeek! Ew! Rats!
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Post by hwinpp on Feb 19, 2011 6:52:31 GMT
I didn't sleep on the boat the first time I was there. I stayed on Cat Ba Island instead and rented a little motorbike for two days.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2011 0:59:20 GMT
I stayed on Cat Ba as well. While I am happy to sleep on a ship or a boat that is going somewhere, I find it foolish to sleep on a boat that is just sitting somewhere, barely off shore.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 21, 2011 20:14:36 GMT
Just ventured onto this board, really very interesting K2. The gardens are of particular interest, were they growing ornamentals as well as food plants? Looks like jungle right up to the back door tho...eek...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 21:11:50 GMT
Both front and back are usually kitchen gardens, but there are always a few flowers and ornamental plants as well. They might need the source of food, but just like any other culture, they need to please their eyes just as much.
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