23rd August, 2012.
The breakfast table at our hotel in Huế featured sculptures from watermelons, pumpkins and carrots.
A peacock created from carrots and other vegetables.
After breakfast, we drove to Huế airport, flew to Hà Nội then drove to Hạ Long Bay.
We drove through lush rice fields.
Many Vietnamese houses are tall and narrow, like this one, with few or no windows on the sides. Our guide told us that this is because house blocks used to be taxed on the length of the street frontage. They had no side windows because each house was so close to its neighbours.
The Bai Chay Bridge can be seen from Halong Bay City.
National Highway No.18, which connects the International Airport of Hanoi with the town of Mong Cai on the Chinese border, has long been interrupted at almost its mid-point by the narrow Cua Luc Straits in Ha Long Bay. The only way for road traffic to cross the straits was by way of a limited number of ferries.
In 2006 the Bai Chay Bridge was opened to provide road traffic access across this strait. It was built with a loan provided a Japanese Bank.
The Bai Chay Bridge has the world’s longest centre span, with a length of 435 m, as a single plane cablestayed
prestressed concrete bridge, with a bridge length of 903m.
As we drove to our hotel, we caught a glimpse of the mysterious islets of Halong Bay.
According to local legend, when Viet Nam had just started to develop into a country, the people had to fight against invaders. To assist the Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. By magic, numerous rocky mountains abruptly appeared on the sea, ahead of the invaders' ships; the leading ships struck the rocks and each other.
After winning the battle, the dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth, and then decided to live in this bay. Halong Bay translates as "descending dragon bay".
No comments:
Post a Comment