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| A cemetery in the rice paddies |
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| Township with tall narrow buildings |
Today we travelled to world heritage listed Halong Bay for an overnight stay.
We had car transport it was our first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Vietnamese countryside.
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| herding cows by bicycle |
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| National posters along the roadside |
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| Arrival at the port for Halong Bay |
The trip was pretty straightforward, with lots of rice paddies, small townships, and new housing construction in the unique Vietnamese style of 'tower’ architecture - long, narrow 3-5 story buildings with open partially open rooftop terraces.
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| Boarding the junk |
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| Seated in the dining room on board |
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| This wasn't the only boat! |
We arrived at midday and boarded a purpose-built 'junk' which was one of many build specifically for taking tourists out into the bay. Once we left port, we were pampered with a superb 5-course lunch on board.
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| The rock formations of Halong Bay |
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| Selling fruit from small boats |
The junk then sailed into to bay among the amazing rock formations, past floating fishing villages. There was a steady stream of small boats selling all sorts of merchandise which pulled alongside as we sailed into the bay. They became a bit annoying though after a while.
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Entrance to Surprise Cave -
middle left |
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| Interior of the cave |
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View of the Halong Bay from
Surprise Cave |
Eventually we docked on an island with a Surprise Cave - quite a large cave eroded into the rock. Although the entrance looked small, the interior was quite extensive and had all of the typical limestone cave formations. It was also marginally cooler than the surrounding air temperature which was stiflingly hot and humid.
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| A couple of happy tourists |
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| Ric diving into the water from the boat |
Next we and then motored further along to a swimming beach, The water was almost as warm as the air temperature of over 30 degrees, so not a great relief from the heat, but refreshing nevertheless.
During the day Frances developed stomach cramps & slight diarrhea so couldn't swim, which for her was a disaster!
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| Sunset at Halong Bay |
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| The 'water cave' |
Later we anchored near a 'water cave' which we visited in a small dinghy, rowing through the cave into an enclosed lagoon just as night fell.
Dinner was another 5 course extravaganza with king prawns, crab, etc. During the voyage we made friends with Denise & John and Barbara & Tony who were very animated and good company - they couldn't play cards though.
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| Halong Bay ticket |
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| Halong Bay ticket reverse |
