About three-quarters of the way through our cruise on Halong Bay, we stopped at one of the caves - our guide Minh said it's one of the most beautiful in the bay. The one we visited is called Dong Thien Cung, or Heaven's Palace Cave. It wasn't a huge sequence of caverns like some that I've seen, but it was quite beautiful. It was only discovered in the mid-90s, and has been nicely lit so you can see. We wandered through and looked at the different formations - so many of them looked like jellyfish. I also thought a lot of them looked like the mussel beds or the underwater plants that grow in coral. It was very beautiful.
After finishing the cruise, we drove about 2 hours to the rest stop where we were able to do a bit of shopping. On this trip, I'm looking to get a few nice pieces rather than lots of cheaper stuff, so my main souvenir from Vietnam is a beautiful carved alabaster candle stand - it has a platform and carved cover and the light shines through the holes left from the carving. Mine is decorated with dragons and a turtle - it's stunning.
Anyway, another 2 hours of driving and we were back in Hanoi. The bus stopped at the Old Quarter for those who wanted to get off. I decided to jump off with a few others and explore for a bit. We went into several of the little shops and found a few fun goodies - I was very good! For once! Of course, the real thrill was dealing with the traffic. Remember how I said that they essentially don't follow traffic rules? That makes it interesting to be a pedestrian. Mopeds frequently drive or park on the sidewalk, so you have to look carefully as you walk. Also, going in the evening meant that the locals would set out tables and stools in front of their shops and start eating dinner. (You can purchase food from them and join in if you'd like, but none of us were hungry enough to risk it.) The other super fun part of it is that in order to cross the street, you just start walking. They don't stop, so there's no waiting for a light or anything. You just go! We learned that the key is to walk slowly and steadily forward - don't go back, and don't run. As long as you do that, the traffic just flows around you. It was a lot less nerve wracking than I thought it would be! Anyway, after about an hour or so, the shops were starting to close up and we were getting tired so we hailed a cab and went back to the hotel (which cost us all of $3!)
So that was my first full day here, and I'm exhausted! We're up and out early tomorrow for a tour of Hanoi before heading to the airport for our flight to Cambodia. Hopefully I'll have a good wireless setup there, but we'll see!
Sounds fabulous Gwen! You are so adventurous, I am jealous. Keep posting!
Posted by: Tracie | February 11, 2014 at 09:17 AM