So, everyone wants to hear about the water puppets! We didn't take any pictures because you had to pay to bring your camera in, and we decided we'd rather enjoy the show without snapping pictures so, see above for a sample of what it was like. It was very impressive. It is an art that dates back 1000 years. People began puppet shows on flooded rice paddies. The show portrayed many different parts of Vietnamese culture including planting rice, legends of ancient kings, and fire breathing dragons. We really enjoyed it.
Yesterday we jumped on a tour bus and visited the Caves of Tam Coc. The morning started out with us driving around for 1 1/2 hours picking all 24 passengers up from their respective hotels. We were soon underway and arrived at our destination just before lunch. Before we got to the caves we had the opportunity to see some temples. They were built 1000 years ago and were part of the Ling and Ly dynasties. The details in the temples were very elaborate. Much of the detail was in Chinese style, due to the influences the Chinese had in the area during that time.
Yesterday we jumped on a tour bus and visited the Caves of Tam Coc. The morning started out with us driving around for 1 1/2 hours picking all 24 passengers up from their respective hotels. We were soon underway and arrived at our destination just before lunch. Before we got to the caves we had the opportunity to see some temples. They were built 1000 years ago and were part of the Ling and Ly dynasties. The details in the temples were very elaborate. Much of the detail was in Chinese style, due to the influences the Chinese had in the area during that time. 
After a mediocre lunch included in the tour, we joined the throngs of tourists on a boat tour to see the caves. There are many Vietnamese and other Asian people travelling at this time of the year (due to the Tet holiday), and Westerners are far out numbered by them everywhere we travel. In all, there were over 200 boats plying the waters around the Tam Coc caves with us. The area is very beautiful with many rocky cliffs jutting out of the water....we just wished that we could have been there by ourselves. There is something that takes away from the beauty, when you're dodging paddles from the other boats, and listening to Vietnamese tunes from about 3 different cell phones around you.
The caves themselves were very beautiful. We were paddled right underneath 3 of them. The details in the rocks are quite spectacular. Unfortunately the lighting for pictures wasn't that great and they don't capture the true beauty of what we saw.
Today, we made our way to Cat Ba island. It is the only inhabited island in what is known as Halong Bay. It is a really beautiful area as well, and we're happy to be away from the big city again. We've got some good adventures lined up for the next few days.
4 comments:
Very nice landscape.
Go kayaking while you're in Halong Bay!
Beautiful pictures!
Craig why are there no pictures of you climbing here??
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