Will be making my 2nd attempt to conquer Mount Kinabalu in March 2009.
Mt Kinabalu (Gunung Kinabalu) is located at Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. At 4,095 metres, it’s the highest summit in Malaysia and the fourth highest in South East Asia.
The floating village is one of the tourist attractions and cultural heritages in Halong Bay, Vietnam. People have been living in these floating houses for hundred of years with fishing as the main income activity.
The tourism boom in recent years should bring a bit of extra income for the villagers, but to be frank… what they get is only a very small chunk of the Halong travel business. Well, I guess a little is better than nothing.
Most of the junks and cruises would pass by at least one of the floating villages and would probably make a short stop at a fish farm where travellers can buy some extra seafood to supplement their meals on the junks, or perhaps just taking a peek into the basic living of the villagers.
Photos below were taken during my Vietnam trip in July 2008…
Halong Bay (Vịnh Hạ Long - Bay of the Descending Dragons) is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Quang Ninh province of northern Vietnam, famous for its scenic landscape with thousands of limestone isles in various sizes and shapes.
Halong Bay has become an international travel hotspot in recent years; there must be more than 200-300 junks and cruises that depart daily from the port, with thousands of travellers visiting the destination each day.
The weather was perfect during my July 2008 visit. My guide told me that the clear blue sky are normally seen only for two-three weeks in one whole year… and my Hanoi friends later reaffirmed the statement. In fact one of them have been to Halong Bay for five times and didn’t manage to catch a clear weather like I did. Lucky me :)
Some photos from the seaport and first glimpse of Halong Bay…
Interesting culture and places in Hue, Vietnam; as featured in the 3rd episode of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) season 3.
Hue City
Huế is a historic city in central Vietnam and was the imperial capital of Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Hue is located about 1100km from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s capital city. It took about 25 hours of bus ride to travel from HCMC to Hue.
Complex of Hue Monuments
The Complex of Hue Monuments is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the complex comprises of 16 historic monuments from the Nguyen Dynasty. Among the monuments that featured in The Amazing Race Asia were the Khai Dinh Tomb, Minh Mang Tomb and Hue Citadel (the pitstop).
