Maybe if I go to Vietnam enough times, I'll stop being pissed off at being ripped off, for the same reason: cognitive dissonance
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N Vietnam 2012
Day 2 - 25th May - Halong Bay: Bamboo Boat Ride (Part 2)
All of us then either went kayaking or rode on bamboo boats. I chose the latter option because, hey, someone would be rowing me. Besides which after how much I'd walked on the first day my thighs were aching (and would continue to ache until Day 4 when I flew back) - if I kayaked my whole body would ache.
Setting off
Fishing village from sampan
Approaching cave leading to inlet
Fishermen
Passing through cave
Limestone (?) man
The old woman rowing us. We later tipped her 50,000 VND
In the inlet
Inlet
Canoeing into the inlet
Poor canoeists
The canoeing Australian couple
Passing back through the passage
Boys fishing
Another passage
The black ladies. The one using her iPad had lost her iPhone in a cab in KL, and later when contacted the driver claimed that he hadn't seen anything.
Textured rock
We then passed between Scylla and Charybdis
Perilous passage
Back at the fishing village
The big boat looks like it's stone
Most of the boats in the village had Vietnamese flags. How patriotic. Or maybe the police rounded up those who didn't display them.
Observe the cable in the water tethering the boat to the island
School
There was also a casino, a boat with some lights on the outside, but I didn't manage to capture it
Bamboo pipe they smoke
I realised that I hadn't seen any dogs or cats in Hanoi the previous day. Maybe they'd all been killed for meat.
We then sailed to a cave.
To the left of the white boat you can see the "Fighting Cocks" rock formation (I named the files wrongly before consulting my notes)
Closeup
For some reason anthropomorphism was popular in Halong Bay.
Gorilla Island
Gorilla Island
For some reason, there was a lot of Mandarin in the boat.
Even if not as elegant as China Mandarin, this at least wasn't awkward like some of the other Vietnamese Mandarin signs I snapped.
I love the last point of the first part (meant for staff): "对游客的服务态度要讲究礼貌，客套及周到,经常教客人讲究公共卫生，爱护环境的习惯" ("When interacting with your guests, pay attention to courtesy and thoughtfulness, constantly teaching guests to respect public hygiene and protect the environment")
The last point of the second part (directed at guests) is even better: "请勿乱扔垃圾，随处大小便" ("Please do not casually toss rubbish around, or urinate and defecate anywhere")
Reasonably elegant Mandarin signs. The last says not to fish or trade in coral. Hah.
