Mithrin Hotel Halong Halong Bay

... landscapes.<br><br>We are to meet our friend in Laos on Tuesday so we are thinking about heading up north to Sa Pa where there are ethnic minority villages and the quintessential Viatnamese rice patty landscapes.. although we are unsure still. We have heard stories from fellow travellers that you also get the witness the snapping of cute, cuddlely puppydog necks by the local children as they help ...

... to make it a birthday she wont forget in a hurry. They had made a huge beach bonfire in honour of her birthday, and had also bought her a bottle of rum, which she kindly gave to everyone in the form of a shot - not before putting on your party hat of course! We also played all sorts of drinking games and once everyone loosened up the limbo pole came out - we were both pretty lame though! Not sure what time we got to bed but we were all gratful of the lie in the next ...

... unfamiliar to me and my pronounciation is awful. Vietnamese is a tonal language with 5 tones. When I pronounce a word or name with the wrong tone, it takes on another meaning. The kids tried to correct their names and laughed at my efforts.<br><br>Tuyen began the lesson by demonstrating step by step how to open the computer. When each XO was open, and after explaining, not to twirl the bunny ears around, he had each use the touch pad until it was ...

... power! Vietnam has alot of sun, and now, for about 2 years there is one company in Ho Chi Minh City manufacturing panels, but not many people know so much about it. He invited me to his home to see the solar power system he built. He brought his panels to Vietnam from Canada.<br><br>Wow! An invitation to a foreigner to visit a local home is unusual and is a treasure when traveling. Tuyen and I had a lovely visit with Peter and Ty and Ty's beautiful ...

... places we have visited we had the best time on the beaches of Phu Quoc and Mui Ne, with HCMC being our favourite city. At the end of the 5 weeks the novelty of constantly having to walk in the gutter (because the pavement is filled with people sat eating/parked motorbikes/goods from shops on display) and then getting 'beeped' at by people on motorbikes has warn off. After about 11pm when the streets are absolutely deserted - you finally get some peace and quiet from the noise ...

... a poorly spoken tour guide . Before we knew it we were back on the boat dropping the day tour people off at Cat Ba, these peopled paid for 7 hours on the boat exploring and swimming around various bays and ended up with 4 hours due to late leaving. <br> <br>All the people who were staying on the boat for the night were meant to go kayaking for 2 hours around the bay. As you can guess this didn't quite happen, we got 30 minutes at dusk to go ound. It was still great fun apart ...

... this story is about, is in the North of Vietnam. It´s just of the coast/corner of China. Halong means Dragon, and according to the old history, it is were the Dragon came tumbling off the mountains and dived into the sea. The tail of the Dragon is still visible in the shape of big islands. 1346 seperate islands rocks, sticking out in the bay. ( that at least is the tale of the story, of the tail of the dragon)<br>But one of the 7 world wonders voted by UNESCO. It truly is ...

... around horrified, but he assured as our boat will not be in that area that is further out open to more unpredictable weather!!!. We actually passed by the boat which was still on its side &amp;* didn't seem to be out in the open!!<br><br> <br><br>The boat stopped off at a cave/grotto &amp; meant climbing a few hundred steps but was worth it as we went into this ...

... on the boat before sleeping, you guessed it - on the boat.<br><br>During the second day we caught a smaller boat out to one of the smaller islands where we walked around, seeing small villages dotted around the island. It was a dam hot day and we were very happy when we got a chance to go for a swim when we returned, before heading to Cat Ba island. Cat Ba island is the largest island in the bay, in the middle of Cat Ba national park, and has essentially been turned into a bit of ...

... as they could only steer to the right, but even so, following Jie and Carolyn's example they managed to navigate through a tunnel and out into a beautiful lagoon surrounded 360 degrees by high cliffs.<br><br><br>The next day of the tour we landed on Cat Ba island and saw another cave with more strange rock features that the Vietnamese have convinced themselves look like ...