A expedition with Indochina Sails 1 June 2008

2018-07-11T00:53:47Z

KristiePirkle:

We got off the bus and were greeted by a guide with Indochina sails.� We were taken inside a building to wait for our boat to be ready.� We were given cold towels at the door, you know your entering luxury when you get a towel to freshen up.� We waited for about a half hour, while our luggage was taken to the ship.� We then were put on a small boat or the "tender" and taken to the ship.� As we were drawing close to the ship, one staff member on the boat was playing a drum, it was a bit odd, feeling like your in a King Kong movie or something. We were greeted by a female staff member and were brought to the dining room on the 2nd level of the ship.� There was 13 people including ourselves.� We were given the safety speech and told a bit about our itinerary.� Then we were given our key and told to settle in a bit then return to the dining room for lunch at 1pm.� We had a room on the 2nd floor, which I think would have been better than the 1st level.� [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm] We had a fantastic view of the bay and our room was amazing.� Definitely one of the best showers we've seen.� It was like a 4 star hotel room. We settled in and looked at our in tin a bit closer, then headed to the dining room.� We had a set lunch, which included cream of pumpkin soup, papaya salad, prawns, fish, chicken, spring rolls and fruit salad.� Overall it was really good quality.� The prices for drinks wasn't actually too bad and they had a really good selection.� After lunch we were told we would cruise to a fishing village with 400 floating houses.� The bay is as stunning as everyone says it is!� The legend behind it involves a family of dragons that were sent by the gods to help protect the coast during times of war with China, the dragons spit out jade and emerald which turned into the islands around the bay.� After the war the family of dragons decided to stay and the mother settled into Ha Long bay and the children in other near by bays.� The islands do have an amazing dense green to them, like nothing we've ever seen.� I can see why it is a UNESCO world heritage site. We cruised for about an hour and a half before we reached the fishing village.� We all hopped on the tender and were taken around the Cua Van village by the guide.� The village is supported by the government these days and the people are provided with a basic education and health care within the village.� There were a lot of children around, some around 6-9 years old, rowing their own boats.� There was a squid fishing boat, the primary school and even a local cafe for relaxing.� It was really interesting.� After our tour we headed back to the boat and doubled back to Ti Tov beach.� We opted to go kayaking for $10 each.� We had to wait for them to bring the kayaks to the boat, which set us back a bit on our itinerary.� I've never been kayaking before, so this was going to be interesting. We got in and were on our way, everyone except one couple went.� We ended up going quite a ways to the east of the boat, a good 2km.� We came upon Bat cave, which was a opening to a otherwise closed off section, which the guide called a lake (which it wasn't).� It was cool to just drift though the cave.� The section past it was so serene and peaceful.� We drifted around for about 20 minutes then our guide took off, so we figured we should go too.� Kayaking is hard work, especially when there is a fairly strong current.� We had to pause a lot on our way back, but it was nice to really soak up the experience.� Eventually we made it back and were directly taken by the tender to the beach. The sun wasn't out but we figured we might was well go in the water.� You could climb to the top of the island, some 400 steps, but kayaking was enough for us.� The other two girls who were on our bus told us the water was actually pretty warm, they were both from B.C...� So we swam around for about 20 minutes, chatting with them and a couple from Australia.� Then we were all herded back on the tender to the ship We had some time to get ready for dinner at 7:30.� You could do a wine tasting before dinner, which was tempting but we passed.� We relaxed in our room for a bit and freshened up.� The sun, what sun there was, went down quick and it became pitch black out.� We went out to the top deck, the weather was actually quite pleasant.� Some staff was fishing for squid off the front of the boat, so we watched them catch a few.� [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] Then we headed to the dining room for dinner, which was a set menu as well.� I had a relish glass of red wine, a rarity in Asia I think.� We had vegetable soup, shrimp and grapefruit salad, calamari and beef with potatoes and veggies.� The main course was a bit unimpressive, especially when you are used to Alberta beef.� We had chocolate cake for dessert. After dinner we could watch a movie (which was a [http://Pixabay.com/en/new-zealand-waterfall-nature-Vietnamese%20dubbed/ Vietnamese dubbed] classic), fish for squid or a few other activities.� We opted to try the squid fishing.� We were both unsuccessful, but other people caught a couple.� They use a bright light to attract the fish that the squid eat.� They were pretty cool, they were little and they'd squirt ink when they were caught.� It was funny to watch.� They had a 2 for 1 happy hour on all drinks from 9 to 11pm, so we had a couple beers while fishing.� Then we went up to the top deck and sat in the lounge chairs.� It is so peaceful here.� The manager told us that we were anchored at an exclusive spot.� All the other tour boats anchor somewhere else, there can be up to 50 of them when its busy.� There were 3 other boats around us.� I'm happy [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] we're at the exclusive spot.� We took in the beautiful night, then decided we better head to bed.� We have another early [http://Search.un.org/search?ie=utf8&site=un_org&output=xml_no_dtd&client=UN_Website_en&num=10&lr=lang_en&proxystylesheet=UN_Website_en&oe=utf8&q=start%20tomorrow&Submit=Go start tomorrow] and we were pretty exhausted from the day.� I am so ready for a comfy bed!� Ciao for now! Source: Travelpod

Ex-UN secretary general s nephew pleads guilty in bribe case

2018-06-21T01:48:07Z

KristiePirkle:

NEW YORK (AP) - A nephew of former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pleaded guilty Friday in a bribery case that grew from an attempt to sell a building complex in Vietnam for $800 million. Joo Hyun Bahn, also known as Dennis Bahn, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and a corruption count in Manhattan federal court as part of a deal with prosecutors. He has been free on bail for a year since he was charged with trying to pay $2.5 million in bribes to rescue the failed real estate deal for Landmark 72, a Vietnam building complex that included a 72-story commercial building that was then the tallest building in the Indochina Peninsula. During his plea, the 39-year-old Bahn, of Tenafly, New Jersey, said he facilitated a bribe, and he knew what he was doing "was a bad act." Judge Edgardo Ramos set sentencing for June 29. In a release, acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan said Bahn's bribery scheme and scams by others seeking real estate deals "seek to corruptly tilt the playing field to their advantage." "Bribery and corruption undermine fair competition and the rule of law," Cronan said. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said Bahn would have earned a multimillion-dollar commission on the [http://Search.Un.org/search?ie=utf8&site=un_org&output=xml_no_dtd&client=UN_Website_en&num=10&lr=lang_en&proxystylesheet=UN_Website_en&oe=utf8&q=real%20estate&Submit=Go real estate] deal. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 10 years. The plea agreement Bahn signed with prosecutors says his federal sentencing guidelines range could be as little as three years or as many as seven years in prison. The judge, though, is free to deviate from the calculated range. Prosecutors say the scheme occurred from March 2013 to May 2015 when Bahn and his father, Ban Ki Sang, 70, of Seoul, South Korea, [http://Www.Wordreference.com/definition/conspired conspired] to try to induce a foreign official to persuade a sovereign wealth fund to rescue the real estate [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] deal. The father was charged in the case but has not been arrested. An indictment said a $500,000 bribe was paid to a local businessman [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] to arrange a $2 million bribe of the foreign official. But the government said in court papers that the half million dollars was instead wasted by the businessman on lavish expenses, perhaps because he didn't have the connections he boasted about. Advertisement

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2018-06-21T01:47:59Z

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I’m Kristie from Stavanger studying Agriculture and Life Sciences. I did my schooling, secured 87% and hope to find someone with same interests in Seashell Collecting. my webpage :: [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh]

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A expedition with Indochina Sails 1 June 2008

Ex-UN secretary general s nephew pleads guilty in bribe case

User:KristiePirkle