Thursday we flew from Luang Prabang, Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam. Much cooler temps awaited us as well as a light sprinkle, quite a change from the 95 degree heat in Laos. We found a great little hotel right next to the St. Joseph's Cathedral, where by the way, there was a five day long funeral ceremony for the just deceased Bishop of Vietnam. So the roads were total chaos, and from our room we could hear all the singing and eulogies piped out from loudspeakers on the streets. It was quite a scene. We were lucky with our hotel, the owner was Australian and he was able to book us our two day cruise on Halong Bay, as well as the train trip to Sapa. Both trips I had left open.
So the next day at 8am we were already picked up for the 3hr. drive to the Bay, where we boarded a nice old wooden Junk and settled into quite a nice state room. We set off into the Bay, which is part of the Tonkin Sea. It is about 606 suare miles and consists of more then 700 islands, mostly uninhabited. We sailed amongst the steep lime stone outcroppings, called Karsts, which was quite stunning. There are dozens of these cruise junks doing the same thing, but the bay being so big, that you never felt crowded. We also stopped at some huge caves as well as went from some sea kayaking, which we enjoyed a lot. Another scrumptious seafood dinner followed on deck as well as a refresing swimm off the ankered boat. We were only 15 passengers, and met some really nice fellow travelers. The next morning we leasurely sailed back to port and got off at noon.
That same night we took a night train ( 9 hrs. ) up to Sapa in the hill tribe country near the Chinese border. More about that next time!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Luang Prabang, Laos
We spent three great days in this beautiful northern Lao town, which is also Unesco Heritage town and has quite a quaint flair about it,not having seen so far in SEAsia.
The highlight was a trip to Kuang Se waterfalls, a series of cascades with turquoise blue swimming holes at the bottom and watching Tony swinging on a rope and juming in the water.
The other fun thing was an elephant ride in the nearby remote woods. The town itself had beautiful temples,one of the oldest one in Laos. We also witnessed the daily early morning parade of the monks, collecting their alms (people line up on the side of the street, giving the monks food). It is quite a sight, hundreds of monks in their pumpkin color robes.
Thursday morning we were off on a flight to Hanoi for our last leg of the journey.
The highlight was a trip to Kuang Se waterfalls, a series of cascades with turquoise blue swimming holes at the bottom and watching Tony swinging on a rope and juming in the water.
The other fun thing was an elephant ride in the nearby remote woods. The town itself had beautiful temples,one of the oldest one in Laos. We also witnessed the daily early morning parade of the monks, collecting their alms (people line up on the side of the street, giving the monks food). It is quite a sight, hundreds of monks in their pumpkin color robes.
Thursday morning we were off on a flight to Hanoi for our last leg of the journey.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Vang Vieng, Laos
A 4 hr. bus ride in a supposedly air conditioned bus, that was about 100 degrees, we arrived in Vang Vieng, a rather nontraditional Lao town, very hippyish, but a fantastic setting. We have a lovely room with an unbelievable view of these jagged mountains. This morning, after a very stormy night, our first rain and thunderstorms this trip, we set off for a 14 miles mountain bike ride through a beautiful valley to some remotes caves. There also happened to be a wonderful cool lagoon at the bottom, where we took a welcome swim after the big hike up to the caves. It's a very picturesque setting here and the river is clean and invites for swims.
Tomorrow we head off to Luang Prabang, another 6-7 hr. mountainous bus ride, but should be very scenic.
Tomorrow we head off to Luang Prabang, another 6-7 hr. mountainous bus ride, but should be very scenic.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Laos
We spent another busy day at the magnificent Angkor Wat temples, this time on regular, non-motorized bikes, peddling about 15 miles in 94 degree heat. It was fun, but very tiring and I had a bout with the runs, so that was a challenge.
Today we flew to Vientiane, Laos, a 3 hr. flight. There is a beautiful monument, like the "Arc de Triomph" in Paris, built during the French ocupation. Already we noticed the change, a lot cleaner and dryer air, but still very hot. We're only hear for a night, the off to VienVang. a 3hr. bus windy bus ride along the river. It will be very mountainous. a big change from the flat lands so far.
Oh, a bunch of the pix that I thought were lost after I posted them, ended up on our old blog: www.longsouthamerica.blogspot.com in case you are interested. There may be some duplicate.
Today we flew to Vientiane, Laos, a 3 hr. flight. There is a beautiful monument, like the "Arc de Triomph" in Paris, built during the French ocupation. Already we noticed the change, a lot cleaner and dryer air, but still very hot. We're only hear for a night, the off to VienVang. a 3hr. bus windy bus ride along the river. It will be very mountainous. a big change from the flat lands so far.
Oh, a bunch of the pix that I thought were lost after I posted them, ended up on our old blog: www.longsouthamerica.blogspot.com in case you are interested. There may be some duplicate.
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