Quê Hương: Ha Long Bay

Ha Long

Ha Long was the third place I visited, a coastal city thats sit along on the bay, more specifically, Ha Long Bay, like how Hanoi (the city) is in Hanoi (the municipality). It was a pretty cool place, especially from where I was staying; you could see the entire Sun World theme park. I walked through the streets and visited a market, which is kind of a given. It's something you have to do at least once if you’re visiting Vietnam. I ate some local food, you know, usual stuff. Later, I visited a buffet and dined in new and old, and I even ate something very interesting, as you’ll see in one of the photos. After that, I took a nightly walk along the seafront. Something about the waves crashing, scattered neon lights, eerie silence, and the breeze on a cool night will never get old.

Sun World Halong Park

Sun World Ha Long Park is a theme park with one section located on a hill and the other near the coast. The hill was the one I visited, and to get there, I went up on a cable car. Once I got there, I went on a Ferris wheel and rode a rollercoaster go-kart–type ride. I then went to a section of the park called Magic Land, which was probably my favourite part of the park. There was a wax museum full of famous and odd-looking people, a room that looked like a mob boss’s headquarters, an upside-down house, a tilted room, a haunted maze, and a room that could capture your shadow. All of it was really wacky, and it’s goofy stuff like that that makes me so giddy. After that, I took a stroll around the scenic part of the park, full of gardens and koi ponds, eventually making my way to the peak of the hill where the temple is. It was serene as always, and I mean, what theme park have you been to has a temple?

Ha Long Bay, Sung Sot Cave, and King Kong Park

In Ha Long Bay itself I got to sail out on a cruise. It was the furthest I've ever ventured out into the sea. I got to see the many limestone karsts and islands that surround the sea. We then docked at a port and went on a speedboat, which sailed much closer to the limestone karsts and islands. During the ride, our boat guy would randomly speed and drift along the water, splashing water into the boat. This proved to me that no matter where you are or what vehicle you're in, in Vietnam, people will still drive the same. Eventually, we docked at Sung Sot Cave, the first ever cave I've been to. It was cool going inside an actual cave and seeing the different rock formations. However, I couldn't really take in the surroundings as much as I would've liked since we were part of a huge group of tourists trudging through the caves, but it made me wonder what it would've felt like if I were alone, so quiet you can hear your footsteps, water dripping from the stalagmite, and the earth rumbling. Finally, we were led to some stairs, scaling those stairs led us outside of the cave to a cliff overlooking the sea, and man, nature is so awesome. A while after my voyage out to sea, I visited King Kong Park, a park full of stone-carved statues. The quality of the statues impressed me a lot. By machine or hand, the sheer skill and time it must've taken to carve out every detail and proportion so realistically is something I admire so much.

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