Travelogue around Asia Pacific

Ha Long Bay - Woke up early and had breakfast.  Our Tour to Ha Long Bay starts 8am - the coach arrive and took us on our journey to Ha Long Bay - it will be a 4hr ride.  Halong Bay (or the Bay of the Descending Dragon), one of the world's natural wonders, is located to the northeast of Vietnam about 4 hrs drive from Hanoi.   Halong Bay covers an area of 1,553 square km, the bay contains 1,969 islands and is designated Unesco World Heritage site.  The mainly limestone and karst formations are concentrated in two main areas: the southeastern part of Bai Tu Long Bay and southwestern part of Halong Bay.  The area has spectacular views and world-famous caves as part of Halong Bay Natural Heritage, which includes Halong Bay and part of Bai Tu Long Bay.  It took me about 1 1/2 months of researching to find the best Junk cruise for my family Ha Long Bay cruise.   I found out many unscrupulous junk operators using old junks, add extra cost and ch...

Hanoi - Our flight to Hanoi was @ 6:05am and so we had to wake up at 3am.    The night before we packed our bags so it would not be a rush early in the morning.  The boys were good as they woke up so early and helped us to get ready.   We gave a last check of the hotel room and walk our way down the Hotel and it was pitch dark.  The guard was sleeping at the front door with a mosquito net covering him. The Hotel Guard sleeping bed The taxi arrived on schedule and the journey to the airport was smooth.  Upon arrival to Hanoi, we checked into Hanoi Hilton Opera Hotel - 5 star and a beautiful Hotel.   The weather in Hanoi is very cold about 15 degrees outside.  It definitely takes some skill to cross the roads in Hanoi, teeming with motorcycles.  The motorcyclist have little patience for traffic rules and a fondness for honking.   We had to be brave when crossing the roads in Hanoi and the trick is to stay clam an...

Danang - Our private tour took us to Cham Museum.  Here you will find Indonesian relics from bygone years.   Website of this museum http://www.chammuseum.danang.vn/English/Home/tabid/64/Default.aspx Admiring one of the Cham relics Resting We completed viewing this museum in about an hour as it has a small collection of relics.   The tour ended at our Hotel and we had an argument with the Hotel staff as it was arranged for us to drive past China Beach but the driver never did.   It seems quite natural for Vietnamese to cheat putting the onus as mis-communication - this was one of our many cheats during our stay in Vietnam.

Danang - As it was still early, we decided to just walk around and found this  quaint shop ran by an old lady. Stock up before our journey to Marble mountain Reaching near Marble mountain, there were many shops selling any artifacts carved out of marble.  Upon reaching the entrance of Marble mountain, Trev decided to count the number of steps to reach the summit of Marble mountain - 632 steps in total. Look at the huge slab of marble Entrance to Marble mountain Marble mountain tour guide Inside one of the Marble mountain dark caves View from Xia Loi Temple Xia Loi Temple one of many temples on Marble Mountain.  When we were there, contruction were on going to  build a elevator up to this temple. On going contruction work Climbing up Marble Mountain Steep climb Fantastic view from the Peak That is the best beaches in Vietnam - Danang.  All the major condominium and Hotels are being constructed. Resting going up the...