Sunday, May 15, 2016

Fernweh - Lets Get Lost 2016 - Halong Bay

"There's something about arriving in new cities, wandering empty streets with no destination. I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I'm born to leave.." ~ Charlotte Erikson

Hello readers,

A week in from coming back from my first outside of Malaysia destination this year. I went to...you guessed it. VIETNAM!! weheee

I went to Hanoi as opposed to Ho Chin Minh, mainly due to the weather.

On to my first highlight of the week long trip.

NIN and I decided to have an overnight trip to Halong Bay, on board one of the junk boats. So we did indeed.


Hello Halong Bay



This is my room in the Junk Boat, It was super comfortable. Air conditioning, full shower, toilet. The works! I was so surprised that everything was super awesome.


There was a kayaking trip 


 Idzerqq the explorer weheeee

There were tonnes of other boats in the bay at the time... 

We visited Hang Sung Sot, a cave located in Halong Bay.





Awesome view of the caves... 


My ever so friendly tour guide. Thank you for your awesome hospitality!! 


We had a wonderful night chilling on the deck before tucking in for the night.

                                           

 The next day before disembarking we went to visit the Halong Oyster and Pearl Farm. Pics below.

 The farm from a distance





We were first taken to the oyster and pearl museum shown above. There were apparently different types of oysters giving different types of pearls!



This is the actual farm where the oysters were kept. First, the oysters are cultivated for about 3 years before a pearl can be implanted in an oyster. 



After the 3 years are completed, these workers take out the oyster cages and go through the oyster to see which oysters have grown up healthy enough for the implanting process and which are not. The ones which are not are eaten. 

These oysters are about 3 years old 

This is the implanting station. They open the oyster a bit, put a tiny stone in the ovary of the pearl and close it back up and put it back into the water. where it is left for another couple of years


Once the years are completed, they open the oyster to see whether any pearls a present inside. We were not lucky and did not see any.

Beautiful view of the bay from the upper deck of the farm. 

A UNESCO heritage site, all that you see formed naturally. This is also the place where Godzilla was shot. 





We also stopped by Ti Top island. The statue is apparently of a very famous general who dropped by the island after America withdrew from Vietnam.


Bye bye Halong Bay. You are so mesmerizing... 


And last but not least... beautiful view of the deck!!!

Alright people.

More updates on highlights soon!

Much love from Airiel and I

Peace and love to everyone.

No comments:

Post a Comment