was amaaaazing! halong bay is a mecca for european couples 65+ and probably the most beautiful place i've been on my trip. it's about a 3-4 hour drive from hanoi to halong, where you load a boat (mine was surprisingly nice, much nicer than expected), and spend the day floating around. there are i think 1,969 (my tour guide hoan told me but i couldn't really understand the exact number he said) limestone rocks that litter the bay. first we went to a massive cave (10,000 square meters) called surprise cave that has a surprise around every corner. every 10 feet you walk there's some new formation in the stone that looks like something or other. even a big schlong. the ceiling and walls were so pretty, (i think) hoan said it was thought to be formed by the waves.
afterwards we went to another island that has a beach, where we climbed to the top of the rock formation for a beautiful view. then we just went back to the boat and ate (the food was good) and fished for squid for about 4 hours since there's absolutely nothing else to do. this morning we row boated to this little enclave where we all threw bread at monkeys that live on the rocks there. they were cute little guys.
now i'm back in hanoi and leaving here in 3 hours to start my long trek back to new york. i'm going to go eat everything i can and then pack.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
hoi an
hoi an is a really beautiful tiny city in central vietnam with interesting chinese and japanese influences. i rented a bike yesterday and went around the city (which took like 30 minutes) and am getting some dresses custom made here. the food here is also actually really good; i haven't posted much about food lately because to be honest it's getting kind of boring. everything is good and not really that interesting. the first day here i went to a cute place called cafe amis (recommended by michael and vy) where the chef mr. kim whips up his own menu every day. yesterday i had really really delicious grilled fish in banana leaf (a hoi an specialty), otherwise i've been eating a lot of banh mi sandwiches off the street. i am, however, sad to report that i seem to have caught an itty bitty stomach bug that is now going on 4 days.
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