Copyright 2005 -- Rachel Saunders

Halong Bay



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April 30th, 2005:
In the morning of the 29th, we all hopped into a van and drove to Halong Bay. We rented a boat for the four of us, and our travelling companion -- Lan -- a friend of Cristel's brother. We spent a little over 24 hours on the boat, swimming, kayaking, reading, while we toured along in between the limestone formations that rose out of the sea. The legend is that a dragon's tail cut through the land as it was descending into the sea... leaving the strange formations. It sounds a lot like what happens when glaciers cut through land. Perhaps it was an ice dragon.

Above: Fishermen checking their net.

Right: At the top deck of our little boat. We sat, relaxing in the sun and thinking we were all pretty lucky.

Below: Aboard the big boat, they provided kayaks with which we wandered around the rock formations in the Bay. The distances between the formations is deceptive. It took a long time to travel between them.
Journal Continued:
We stopped at one place and wandered through a beautiful limestone cave that rivals that of fantastic caverns in Missouri. It was a nice cool retreat from the heat of the sun... of course on the ocean, there was also a nice breeze. We spent the greater part of the evening, jumping the 20 feet from the top of the boat into the water below. Jon and Josh jumped probably 20 times, each time recorded by my new camera which can take up to 5 pictures a second. You get the full action scene. I suppose I could have recorded it as well, but somehow it was more fun with the camera.

Journal Continued:
Dinner, lunch, breakfast on the boat ... was a series of tasty gifts from the sea. Suateed calamari, shrimp, fish, along with veggies and spring rolls. I felt like a queen on the ship... At night we sat on the top deck and looked at the stars. Since none of us knew anything about stars, we decided to create our own constellations. I found the usual shapes... a kite, another kite, another kite, a fish, a belt, a circle... ;-)
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...
Left: Choco Pies! Jon jumps towards the floating 7-11 in hopes of getting some tasty treats, Oreos or Choco Pies.

Below: El Scorpio and his companion demonstrate their anti-gravitational abilities.
ce to grow up...
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds.
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :    
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...
Above: A temple atop a rock formation.

Right: A floating fishing village in the middle of the bay. The people that live here spend their whole lives on the water. The children scamper from boathouse to boathouse, from boat to boat with the greatest of ease.

Below: A young villager with a choco pie.


:  
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds.
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Left: Contemplating life no doubt, two gentlemen sit outside of the tomb amongst the pleasant grounds. :
Right: A closeup of a baby monkey who resides full time on the verdant grounds of Akbar's tomb. Not a bad place to grow up...

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