Halong Bay

We decided to take an over night trip to Halong Bay which is about a three hour drive from Hanoi.

With a bit of a rough start to our trip as our driver was an hour late we made the dock in time to get transported to the Jasmine Junk which we where sailing on while visiting the bay. The weekend was overcast which we had a bit of a storm on Saturday night but it didn't interfere with the sailing at all.

Over the two days we sailed on the bay stopping at a local beach for a swim, a visit to a floating fishing village and the last stop was a visit to a cave which was home to some large rock formations. It was a nice break away to see such a natural beauty of Vietnam.

I always find it interesting to read about the local legends in the different countries and according to local legend, long ago when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade, which turned into the islands and inlets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. The people defended their land and formed what later became the country of Vietnam. After that, the dragons became interested in peaceful sightseeing and decided to stay to live here. The place where the Mother Dragon flew down was named Ha Long, the place where the dragon children attended to their mother was called Bai Tu Long island (Bai: attend to, Tu: children, Long: dragon), and the place where the dragon children wriggled their tails playfully was called Bach Long island (Bach: white the colour of the foam from the wriggling tails, Long: dragon, Vy: tail).

Some more information about the Bay is that Halong Bay is bordered on the south and southeast by the Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China and on the west and southwest by Ca Ba island. The bay has a 120 kilometre long coastline and is approximately 1553 square kilometres in size. The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. The Bay is host to two ecosystems, a tropical moist, evergreen rainforest's ecosystem and a marine and coastal ecosystem. The islands are home to many birds and mammals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys and iguanas. In 1994 Halong Bay was listed as a World's Natural Heritage by Unesco for its outstanding universal aesthetics value.

Picture: Carving on the boat

Picture: The boat we stay on

Picture: Two ladies selling items to passengers

Picture: Paige and the captain

Picture: Bernadette & Ben on top deck of boat

Picture: Bernadette and Paige on top deck of boat

Picture: Local floating fishing village

Picture: Children from fishing village

Picture: A part of Halong Bay


Picture: Ben, Bernadette and Paige in the lounge area on the boat

The Water Park

Always on the look out for something new to do we thought we would pay a visit to the local water park. Being a weekend when we went the park was full of many local people with their families. The water park was well set out and over all it was better then I expected. Paige had a ball going down the different slides. I think next time we will go on a week day when its not as busy.

Picture: Paige going on slide

Picture: Ben and Paige coming down a slide


Picture: Paige on the small slide

Picture: Paige on another slide

Picture: Bernadette & Paige floating around the parks man made river

The Ethnology Museum Hanoi

Having lived in Hanoi now for a couple of months we thought it was time to start and visit one of the museums here to learn more about the culture in Vietnam.

We were surprised at what we found and how interesting the museum was.

Information about the museum from the Internet.........

"The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is a valuable centre for the exhibition and the preservation of cultural heritages of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. To date, the Museum has collected 15,000 artifacts, 2,190 slides, 42,000 photographs, 237 audiotapes, 373 videotapes and 25 CD-ROMs. It is also a centre for ethnographic research employing many experts on the different ethnic groups. People come to the Museum just not to visit or entertain, but also to learn about these ethnic groups, their cultural diversity and the uniqueness of each group and region, as well as traditional values throughout the Vietnamese country.

The artifacts of the Museum are not only priceless antiquities, but many are everyday objects, such as knives, baskets, garments, flutes, pipes and mats. These objects reflect tangible and intangible cultural heritages of the communities, representing lives and creative activities of the people. Thus, artifacts of the Museum are so varied that they are organised into different collections. The Museum has 54 collections of each individual ethnic group. Functionally classified, there are collections of clothing, jewellery, of agricultural tools, fishing instruments, weapons, household utensils and musical instruments. In addition, there are collections of artifacts related to the various religions, beliefs, wedding ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and other social and spiritual activities.
The outdoor exhibition area is only large enough for the most popular architectural styles to be represented. Already presented are the Ede long house, the Tay stilt house, the Yao house half on stilts, half on earth, the Hmong house whose roof is made of pomu wood, the Viet house with tile roof and the Giarai tomb. There are future plans to present the Bahnar communal house, the Cham traditional house and the Hanhi house made with beaten walls. Between the houses, there are trees indigenous to the area of each house, zigzagging paths and a meandering stream crossed by small bridges. The outdoor museum is being realised step by step".

Picture: Paige and Ben sitting outside the museum

Picture: Paige looking at a bike display of cane items

Picture: A display on the stages of making of traditional hats

Picture: Bernadette & Paige standing next to a large clay pot

Picture: A display of traditional skirts

Picture: A display of a traditional dress

Picture: Ben & Paige standing in front of one of the a traditional houses

Picture: Ben , Paige & Bernadette sitting in a traditional long house

Picture: Looking down inside a traditional long house

Picture: A traditional burial tomb

Picture: Information on family altars