Delimiter
Halong Bay, tour and party.
Early this month I did my Kitchen Table Kibitzing diary on our trip to Viet Nam. As a reminder, that visit coincided with the celebration of Tết, which is their New Year.
Segment two of our trip took us to Halong Bay, or Hạ Long Bay. The area is beautiful in general but our focus was on the bay itself, which is filled with giant rock structures of various sizes.
Grey day on Halong Bay.
We were in the company of many other tourist boats. We had hoped for clear weather but the day began very foggy and cool. Hey, just like home.
I enjoy boat tours and decided to make the best of the weather. Anyway, I was beginning to see patches of blue.
Sampling a local beer. It was very good.
As the weather cleared we came upon a floating fish farm. This was a fascinating large structure with holding tanks for the catch, which were simply nets hanging in the water.
People lived aboard and there was even a restaurant of sorts.
I decided on fish; choices were limited.
We stopped at one rock structure and disembarked. Then we entered the rock through a tunnel. Lo and behold, this rock was hollow and inside was a most beautiful cave. I did wonder if this had been discovered by the original inhabitants thousands of years ago.
As we left the bay we aimed for one particular tall rock. Approaching, the view changed and it appeared to split in two. This was called "Two Sisters".
Two Sisters
*After I showed this photo to Mrs. side pocket, she claimed my memory is faulty and this structure was called "Kissing Rock". One or the other, I guess.
Back at our hotel, we received a general invitation to attend a party at another hotel down the road. We had no clue what to expect, but as I mentioned above it was indeed Tet so we decided to go. OMG. This was the party to end all parties. Music, dancing, food, contests, displays,flashing lights, anything you could think of. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there.
Only one of several stages.
Teaching us to make bean cakes. Then we could eat them.
Mrs. side pocket was brave enough to try one of the "community" punch dispensers.
Not so sanitary, actually.
It became clear that this party was intended to increase the area's visibility for tourists. And even then we could see the future; new buildings were under construction and more tourist facilities were being built. We were afraid that it would become Halong Branch of Disneyland. This was a decade ago….I hope we were wrong.
But having said that, I still have to say that was the best, most spectacular party to which I have been invited. And I say that even after giving one of the largest Kossack parties here in Sonoma County.
Come to think of it, I wasn't actually invited to that one, I was just there.
Have you been invited to a particularly large, unusual, wild, or weird party? Would you attend with trepidation or anticipation? Discussion of this or, as usual, any subject is welcome here. Don't forget your party hat.
|
|
|
|
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
|
|