(Picture are on the way)
Early out of our rooms
today for a 4 hour bus trip to Ha Long Bay.
Most of the route
consisted of 2 lane roads but most people drive in either lane.
Head on collisions must be rampant, though we have yet to see one. There is a good deal of horn honking that goes on.
Head on collisions must be rampant, though we have yet to see one. There is a good deal of horn honking that goes on.
At the halfway point we stopped at a huge souvenir shop with clean bathrooms. There was a brief shopping frenzy (things seemed really cheap). I talked Jeri into a Vietnamese pants suit.
Her arms and legs were a bit longer than the average Vietnamese woman, but they were willing to custom make one for her that we would pick up on our way back to Hanoi in two days. We couldn’t resist.
We continued on through small towns, past rice paddies, cattle and water buffalo and eventually made it to the coast and Ha Long Bay.
Ha Long Bay, situated in the Gulf of Tonkin, includes some
1600 islands and islets forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars.
The islets have very steep walls, making most of them uninhabitable. This has minimized the effects of humans on area. It is considered a “drowned karst landscape”. Karsts are geological forms created by (most often) limestone being dissolved by erosion or wave action which creates fengcong (clusters of conical peaks) and fenglin (isolated tower features) karst features, In Ha Long bay, these karsts also have many caves and arches which have been formed by marine action. A bit further north in China along the Li River, there is another area of inland karsts that Jeri and I were fortunate enough to see on our trip to Guilin, China a few years ago.
The islets have very steep walls, making most of them uninhabitable. This has minimized the effects of humans on area. It is considered a “drowned karst landscape”. Karsts are geological forms created by (most often) limestone being dissolved by erosion or wave action which creates fengcong (clusters of conical peaks) and fenglin (isolated tower features) karst features, In Ha Long bay, these karsts also have many caves and arches which have been formed by marine action. A bit further north in China along the Li River, there is another area of inland karsts that Jeri and I were fortunate enough to see on our trip to Guilin, China a few years ago.
During the Vietnam War, this area was heavily mined by the
US Navy. Nearby Haiphong saw extensive
bombing late in the war having been North Vietnam’s only
major port at that time..
We
transferred via tender to our boat, the Syrena, which was fashioned after a Chinese junk.
Our cabins were extremely tight with no place for our luggage which made maneuvering a bit difficult. Overall, though, the ship was comfortable, and our group of 15 had the run of the ship.
There was a crew of 20 and we were introduced to the major players upon arrival.
The captain had an interesting sleeping arrangement. There was a bed behind the helm in the wheelhouse!
Our cabins were extremely tight with no place for our luggage which made maneuvering a bit difficult. Overall, though, the ship was comfortable, and our group of 15 had the run of the ship.
There was a crew of 20 and we were introduced to the major players upon arrival.
The captain had an interesting sleeping arrangement. There was a bed behind the helm in the wheelhouse!
After
settling in, Jessie gave us kayak lessons on the sundeck, Somewhat of a review for the majority of the
group.
Next was a
spring roll cooking lesson before dinner followed by another multicourse
dinner. Many of the dishes at dinners
and lunches seem to be very similar with only slight variations. We are all pretty spring-rolled out.
So far, the weather is less than promising. I doubt we will see much blue sky to show off the karsts tomorrow.
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