Visiting Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 2020/Carlos Pueblo

Visiting Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 2020/Carlos Pueblo

Ha Long Bay is famous of its scenery islands and junk boats now a good size of dragon head tourist vessels on the pier by the huge cruise ship. At the busier time, the cruise passengers would do the islands excursion directly from the cruise to the boats; however, I didn't know and didn't prepare for such expenditure. Instead, we marched to the city center to visit a recreation center and its garden, the main street, an unsuccessful luxury residential and commercial project, etc. The whole seven days cruise is a management of time during our nineteen days tour of the Southeast Asia and I know the limit of a tour of a cruise. I'll be in bus all the time to visit the famous, Hai Phong, Hai Noi, Hue, or Saigon, etc. Vietnam only open her container ports for the ocean liners.

Amy doesn't know more than I do either. We saw the recreation center, a nice complex with ancient gate type arc in the front and several old oriental plume blossom, umei in Japanese language. They are very unique and charming in pink and I am not sure they are plume or peaches. It reminds me our visit one year at Osaka Castle of the Peach Gardens full of peaches and plume blossom. The gardeners manage many different colors flowers in the garden such as yellow chrysanthemum and I wonder how they can make it in the early spring. We then walked into the main street, a highway separated the city business and residential combination area. I saw hotels and stores on the west side and restaurants on the east side toward the beach.

A huge platform is at the south end of the restaurants section. It is originally for the city gathering obviously with a descending seats to some kinds of outdoor performance. Some cracks on the concrete ground due to poor workmanship and buildings on the edge in one side shown unfinished. Obviously the project is interrupted. Another eye catching luxury residential and commercial projects are next to the platform. They are familiar to me from some documentary television programs in the ghost town in China, beautiful yet no body occupy. I came back toward the recreation center and the ship passing by the second street behind the main street on the restaurant side. People shacked their head when I asked about the luxury buildings.

I ran into a group of high school students on their graduation ceremony. Boys and girls were on their ancient custom with sword and fan at hand. I asked a pair for their pictures then the joined the group for me to take some more pictures. One of the lovely girls has Kanji writing on her face said I am cold moon. I started my question if she learned the mandarin. She said just started in high school. I promised to send them photos when I went back to Houston.