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Monday, November 30, 2015

Boat ride down Halong Bay "Land" at Tam Coc

We are now at Tam Coc to catch our boat ride to "Halong Bay on Land" :
the same limestone rocks as in Halong Bay but seen from a winding stream through padi fields instead of the sea.
Tam Coc Wharf


Other tour groups get to wear life jackets, but not our group
because the river is very shallow

Boatmen waiting...note the serene view, it is not hot, but rather it is rather the sky isovercast

as the other groups went on the boat, we had some photo opportunity

our teacher is smart, she wants solo shots because the view is breathtakingly beautiful
 but she got sabotaged and swamped by her students, as always, crowding for a piece of the action
 the photographer (my husband lah) shooed them all away and she posed again, but tour guide is calling!!!
 Chris ran in and got a shot!!! hahah!
okay, now we got on our boats in pairs...room-mates in the hotel, and boat mates here
me and my room mate, hehehe! 
 Note the boatman behind us, wait a minute, it's "boatwoman"
unique way of rowing....with foot power!!
 
and we are off!!
 we enjoy the spectacular scenery during the boat trip, and weather luckily was cool and sunless!
see, how romantic?
for safety reasons, we did not emulate the above young couple!
 crazy Cat and Maggie passed us...look at  video below...how zany can they be?
 we went under rocks
with tiny openings
I think a certain James Bond movie was made here, at this spot...
the long ride home, so long, he took the oars to help speed things up a bit
we also passed women selling wares
 at last, we are back at the wharf...

 Verdict of the ride: out of this world scenery and awesome views, exciting under the cave passing, smooth and lullaby-inducing feeling during the ride, but many complained that it was too long and it got a tad boring! Also we got swamped by unsolicited photo takers and I asked Jenny how she avoided them..she said "every time they pointed the camera at me, I looked down, or away, or simply averted my eyes!!!!" hehehe, and my husband was scolding me for smiling and pointing the V sign for them!!

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