Ha Long Bay - Vietnam

I went to Ha Long Bay for two days and one night. It was great. It took three hours by bus to get there and another three hours back today. We successfully made it back too. The traffic is insane here and we almost side swiped another bus. We were centimeters apart. Thank god, all is well.

Once arriving at Ha Long Bay amongst the thousands we climb aboard a boat to only have to climb onto another and then another and then another, all with our backpacks on. I am glad I did not have a suitcase like some people I saw. I am not sure how they made out. As the boats were sometimes ten deep. It also makes you think, this is not wheelchair friendly.

We took a Junk. That is what the boats are called by the locals and we eat and slept on it. Once touring on the boat for awhile we arrived amongst the thousands of mini islands. It was very pretty. However it was overcast. There always seems to be a haze and smog. They are terrible polluters and are ruining their lakes and country. It is unfortunate but there is a lot of garbage floating in the Bay.

One of the islands had a very large cave that we were able to tour. It was also very interesting. It is thought that two dragons live in the cave. We didn’t see them. They have different coloured lights in the cave so that is why some of the pictures are glowing.

I met some wonderful people on the boat. There were 14 people on the boat and everyone was lovely. We also got to go kayaking around the islands.

Ha Long Bay has been the best part of Vietnam so far. It is definitely something to checkout on the Junk.

I am waiting back at the hotel to take a taxi to catch the night train to Hue. I have a soft sleeper (a bed). It will take 13 hours, and it is really not that far, only a few hundred kilometers. So I thought I would take advantage of the internet and give you an update and a new link to pictures. I was able to put the software on this computer the other night and this will be the last time I use this specific computer. I am not sure if I will be able to keep up with loading the pictures, so I might as well while I can.

Click on the following link for pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahemoloney/HaLongBayVietnam