AlexBlog

Ha long bay

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Ok today I have a cold starting. From the border crossing, the english climate here and 3 days in a damp room. Great.

But we get up early and go on a bus journey to ha long bay. It's a 3 hour bus journey with a stop at a place where you buy photocopied books (the quietman and other vietname stories, although no dear hunter), also embroidery, which was beautiful, that the disabled children have made themselves.

We get to the boat which is a large splendid wooden dragonship, almost. Of course you have to climb across 4 boats to get to the one furthest out to sea, which I, amazed, did without falling over board. Next the boats starts and we stop for the best vietnamese lunch I have had. Prawns, spinach, rice spring rolls (now getting tired of them) and a fish head. All delicious.

Its a shame we didn't go in their summer season, as the view would have been spectacular. Giant rocks, thousands of them, appearing out of turquoise water, which we steer inbetween.

We then stop at a cave the size of wookey hole to be shown staligmaites that look like penises (the viatnamese tourguides like embrrassing you by saying "what does that look like"). Of course with my filthy mind I already told brenda that before the guide... well the thing was lit up in red it was a bit hard not to think of anything else.

The cave was huge, and very beautiful, unlike the thai people, the vietnamese when they know tourism know how to get the best of the scneery with everything spotlighted (unlike the thai where its take your own torch and watch out for bat droppings before you fall head over feet).

The cave was made of several different caverns and we went to each of them.

Next was more boat through the caverns - now have a full blown cold followed by a swimming stop which I chickened out of. The welsh couple and irish didn't, but said it was freezing and it was wet and cold outside.

After more slow boat we get to Cat Ba island which let me say is like southend.

Brenda, myself and a guy called marcus that we met (from london) go for a walk after a few beers and games of shit head. We walk and we walk thinking this road should lead us back to the restaurant the bus is picking us up from to take us back to the hotel.

We walk and its getting darker and remoter... we walk until its ok maybe we should turn back, which we did, as it was getting a little scary, and also we couldn't tell where the hell the bay was.

Next day, after a really bad night sleep in the hotel because of coughing fit, and talking in mysleep doing the walk again, we go for another boat trip back to the porty and lunch.

We get back to the bay and I am fading fast now, cough is on chest and really painful. We do the 3 hr trip to the hotel, and I brave the vietnamese chemist who gives me these pills and signals one in morning and one at night. At least that's what he said, and I didn't ask if i could drink on them or not.

I am now stoned I think, and the cold, well hey, what cold... thanks for those tablets I am on cloud nine at the moment.

I fly at 9am to hanoi tomorrow, and have decided after I will do the rest of vietnam again, its beautiful. Although I am please hochi min city is going to be warm... very warm again!

Posted by alexd at March 31, 2004 12:53 PM