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Travel Photos...Vietnam
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Ha Long Bay, Hanoi and Marble Mountain
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| Ha Long Bay. There are literally thousands of islands, large and small, in this area. The limestone has been carved into lovely shapes by about 20 million years of torrential rains. | |||
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| The plants cling tenaciously to the sheer limestone cliffs, providing shelter and sustenance to various creatures. | |||
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| Fishermen have lived in Ha Long Bay on floating homes for generations, but tourists are their biggest catch these days. | |||
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| Hanoi. A temple on an island in Hoan Kiem Lake. Right in the heart of this bustling metropolis, this lake provides an opportunity for people to relax, to walk, and to practice their traditional exercises. | |||
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| The Pagoda on Turtle Island in Hoan Kiem Lake.
Legend has it that a giant turtle rose out of this lake and presented a magical sword to King Le Loi, who used it to defeat the Ming Rulers of China in 1418. The Chinese had held Vietnam as a vassal state for several years. After liberating Vietnam from the Chinese, Le Loi apparently returned the magical sword to the lake. The Vietnamese and the Chinese have had uneasy relations for centuries, and the squabble over the Spratly Islands has brought some of those old tensions back to the surface. |
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| The Old Quarter in Hanoi was the original settlement. Each street here is home to various trades and the Quarter is a lively place to explore. I enjoyed the street food served steaming hot, as you sit on tiny stools on the pavement.
I could not find out for sure, but I think that the Gate in the centre of this picture may have been part of the old city walls. |
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| This is the Ho Chi Minh Museum. His Mausoleum was closed for repairs when I was there. Uncle Ho, as the locals like to call him, was a modest man who refused to live in the grand palace and instead chose a small wooden house as his official dwelling. He intensely disliked the idea of being embalmed and turned into a cult figure, like Stalin. He wanted to be cremated, but the Party, in its wisdom, decided otherwise. | |||
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| A Temple on the West Lake in Hanoi. | |||
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| Marble Mountain, near Da Nang.
There are several mountains jutting out of the plain between Da Nang and Hoi An. Several of them have temples and sacred caves dotted among them. You can catch cheap local buses between Hoi An and Da Nang and just hop off at Marble Mountain. I found that these local buses in Vietnam are the best bargains to be found. They are comfortable, clean and air conditioned, and incredibly cheap. A law was passed which forbids charging tuorists more than locals for these bus fares. The destination signs on the front of the buses clearly indicate where the buses travel to and from. Just make sure to ask the driver if the bus is going in the direction you want! |
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| One of the many Temples on the main mountain.
You can walk the hundreds of steps up to the top, but I cheated and took the elevator up, and then walked down. |
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To view Vietnam, Page Two (Hoi An), please CLICK HERE
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To view Vietnam, Page Three (Nha Trang), please CLICK HERE
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To view Vietnam, Page Four (Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon), please CLICK HERE
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To view Vietnam, Page Five (Vung Tau and the Mekong River Delta), please CLICK HERE
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