Bien Dong Hotel Halong Bay

... on what they look like, especially the turtle whose head you stoke for good luck.<br><br>The views from the lookout point here were stunning, and the variety of boats in the water just added to the ambiance. The only downer was the typical English tourists, obviously already well into the drinking and giving a great impression of the UK on the local people!! We may be traveling the world but I don't think we'll ever get away from the bright ...

... for the hours it runs. On the previous Thursday, I had been relieved to see that there was a working inverter on the generator and that the Pearl Shop had normal power outlets. Huge thanks for small things. It took only a little more than 1 &amp; 1/2 hours to charge 6 laptops. Then we did the other 6.<br><br>We started our teacher training before dark. The 3 teachers have not had very much experience with ...

... the cabin door (I think in an attempt to get me out of bed) and so opened my eyes to the back drop of the bay itself as we slowly glided past the imposing limestone features. It was perfect. <br> And there concludes my Halong Bay adventures. Only about a month after they actually happened! At least I&#8217;m still in the country though - there have been blogs written from entirely different continents so at least I&#8217;m still actually in Vietnam in this case. Getting a clearer ...

... sight I have ever seen. Don't worry, I have hundreds of photos to share!<br> <br> On the boat we brought out 3 XOs and I answered lots of questions about One Laptop Per Child, Nicholas Negroponte's dream for a global education project and how I came to be bringing XO laptops from America, halfway around the world to this small floating village in Vietnam. Thu, our 8 year old, made my job easy of course. She was entertained and busy playing and learning the ...

My plans to see more of Central Vietnam went awry when I got left in a tiny no-where town in the middle of the night, by a bus driver who clearly cannot understand a ticket with a destination, or me pointing at a map 15 times to make sure he didn't miss my stop...He missed my stop. Since I didn't have any intention of being in this town, I had no place booked to stay and it was so late that not much was open. I finally found a hotel, albeit a really ...

... at Hanoi at 1630. <br><br>The bay is a beautiful place very similar to Yangshuo in china expect there is water surrounding the mountains not land. We enjoyed our trip due to the people meet and the fun we had with these people. However in would not recommend go with this tour and paying more as you do get a better service compared to when when you pay a low budget trip, as we did, for reference that tour company was called &#8220;Discovery&#8221; avoid it like the bloody plague.<br><br><br><br>

... so a little nap and a bite to eat later in good old Hanoi. David arranged 2 tickets for us for the next morning bus trip to Nanning in China. So after a good meal we bought our noodle soup and refreshments for the next day trip. Our biggest overland tour was about to begin....!! We are heading for China!<br>Okay...enjoy the pictures..( we have more..!! ) we read you later, as crossing into China is like going to Disneyworld..!!!?!!<br>Bye Bye.......P&amp;M......Chinese Black-Pakels...<br>

... top bunk I'm on the bottom and we're<br>sharing the cabin with another couple who are Vietnamese. The guy is<br>a HUGE snorer though so we'll see how much sleep we get. We're glad<br>we're with them because next door are some very raucous<br>Canadians/Spaniards. Sorry, but not up to staying up all night<br>drinking on a train that isn't exactly a smooth ride. Going to the<br>bathroom was an adventure &#8211; but isn't all of life?! <br><br><br><br><br>

... parc national. La flore est tres belle et la route cotiere tres jolie. On rentre le soir et cherchons a organiser un tour en bateau dans la baie avec lequel on puisse dormir sur le bateau. On en trouve un a l office du tourisme mais, alors que le deal etait fait, le guide essaye d avoir Jason et lui vendant pour le double du prix des billets de trains Hanoi-Sapa. La confiance est rompue et on annule le tour avec lui non sans l avoir bien engueule. Le guide ...

... Carol went for a bit of row but not for long and Gayle was a bit of a suckey-la-la and didnt get into the kayak at all. Myself and Nat got into the Kayak and went around to some water caves. It was really beautiful and there was not many people there at all. We spent about an hour in the kayak before heading back to the main boat.<br><br>We then got dinner on the boat. They served up some good food but the local wine was not up to the aussies standards so ...