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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Halong Bay

I have not been back to Vietnman for more than ten years. There must be a lot of changes by now. Yg's post on Halong Bay last Sunday reminded me of my visit to the same place in 1987. I was there with a friend. We put up at Bachdang Hotel which was very close to the bay. Many private boats were at the harbour waiting for passengers. We chartered a boat which could accomodate 10 persons. We had the privacy of two persons. As the boats cruised down the lagoon passing many limestone islets, we had beer while viewing the beautiful sights. The boat package included one sea food lunch cooked on board the boat. We paid additional charge for our beer.


Bachdang Hotel


At the harbour


We chartered this boat


Lunch on board the boat


Going up to the cave


Inside the cave


Outside the cave


Hawker stalls

Outside our hotel on the way to the beach there were many hawker stalls selling souvenirs, food and drinks to the tourists. At the beach there were many beer stalls with beach chairs for the tourists to relax and enjoy the drinks. Beer per can was very cheap at S$0.85 cents each. That was more than 30 years ago.

Enjoying beer by the beach

8 comments:

Lam Chun See said...

The streets look nice and clean. Not quite like my mental image of Vietnam.

Have not been there before. One of these days perhaps.

PChew said...

I have not returned to Vietnam for many years. I understand the streets are much cleaner now.

Thimbuktu said...

Was that Tiger beer you guys were drinking in Vietnam?

PChew said...

Yes, they were Tiger beer bottles that you saw in the picture.

yg said...

philip, we found out the costly way; lunch was free but drinks were not. we had soft drinks and coffee and when we were charged for them, our 'treasurer' was quite upset.
bia hoi (local draft beer) comes very cheap: about 30 cents a glass. i am not a beer drinker but my friend told me it was worth the money.

PChew said...

Local draft beer for 30 cents a glass? No way, perhaps it is $1.30. Check it up with your friend.

yg said...

philip, it is correct. about 30 cts a glass (or us$0.20). check out this website.

PChew said...

Thanks, but it is hard to believe.