10th February, 2001
Vietnam Mountain Islands At Ha Long Bay. Tourists Board Cruise Boat Up Gang Plank. Young Children Selling Biscuits And Rice Cakes.
December, 1996
Vietnam has a remarkable tourist attraction at Ha Long Bay where there are a number of small mountain islands. We boarded our small boat by walking up a rickety gang plank, with the help of a handrail of bamboo held by two of the crewmen. On the day of our first visit a light mist added to the mysterious appearance of the islands as we cruised amongst them but we did have an occasional burst of sunlight, which completely changed the appearance of the rocks, as if inviting us to pay another visit in a more favourable season.
 Guilin has its mountains scattered on flat ground but the mountain islands of Ha Long gave the appearance of just floating on the sea, and as we approached the ghostly shapes through the mist, greater detail was revealed with many of the islands undercut by sea erosion. Of course many of the rocks had their special names and legends, and there were caves to explore, but then our boat closed up to one island and came to a stop. We were told to prepare to board small motorboats approaching us, and having done so, we were taken through a low tunnel at the base of the island, which at first looked like the entrance to a cave, then suddenly we were through, and into an open air amphitheatre full of silence, once the boatman had switched off the engine, and our guide had told us all to stop talking. Only the gentle lapping of water against the boat could be heard and the occasional call of a bird in the towering cliff tops, until the silence was broken when another small motorboat came roaring through the tunnel.
 Where ever cruise boats gathered to visit a particular island or to stop awhile for the passengers to enjoy a spectacular view, then so too would gather some of the local people in their boats, hoping to sell their wares to the passengers. Biscuits and rice cakes, cigarettes and chewing gum, picture postcards and maps, were part of their stock, and perhaps more appropriate for the location, pieces of sea coral. Quite young children would be involved in the selling perhaps on the basis that it was less easy to refuse a child's patter. You didn't have to be able to understand them.
 Returning from our second cruise in Ha Long Bay we disembarked down our rickety gang plank onto the shore, then up steps to the promenade to be met by a group of women, selling whatever they could. With admirable eagerness they displayed their cards, maps and trinkets, and spoke a few words of English or French, but even when all this resulted in no sale, their attitude to the tourists did not change, nor the warmth of their smiles.
If you are interested in other Vietnamese topics, such as...
Vietnamese Young Man Visits Country Of Birth...
Saigon Familes Welcome Relative...
Westerner's Impression Of Hanoi Streets
Na San Grandparents Receive Surprise Visitors
Hai Phong Riverside Street...
...then just click them.
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