IQBAL - User contributions [en]

The Archers´ star Timothy Bentinck humbled´ by MBE

2018-07-05T21:25:05Z

MargeryDangelo:

The Archers� star Timothy Bentinck has said he [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] was �astonished and humbled� to be made an MBE. The actor, known for [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/voicing voicing] the character of David Archer in the BBC Radio 4 drama, thanked those who have �supported me through the ups and downs of surviving� in his profession. [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] The 65-year-old, who was born on a sheep station in Tasmania, has played David in The Archers since 1982. Timothy Bentinck as David Archer (BBC/PA) He also has TV credits to his name and makes regular appearance in the theatre. Bentinck started doing voiceovers as a child and has even lent his voice to the �Mind the gap� announcement on London Underground�s Piccadilly line. He said in a statement: �I am astonished and humbled by this award. �It is not something I ever expected and I can only thank [http://www.Answers.com/topic/profusely profusely] those unknown people who proposed me, also my family and friends who have supported me through the ups and downs of surviving as an actor.� Bentinck is made an MBE in the Queen�s Birthday Honours for services to drama. Advertisement

With Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Indochina Sails website will participate in the International Tourism Exhibition " TUR 2010 at Göteborg " to be held from Mar 25 to 28 in Goteborg the second-largest city in Sweden 2010

2018-07-05T05:42:12Z

MargeryDangelo:

With Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Indochina Sails website will participate in the International Tourism Exhibition " TUR 2010 at G�teborg " to be held from Mar 25 to 28 in Goteborg, the second-largest city in Sweden, 2010. Indochina Sails [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] express the desire to [http://Www.Buzzfeed.com/search?q=promote%20Luxury promote Luxury] Cruises in Halong Bay, Vietnam in the luxury segment, which [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] is addressed to people who want to live a unique experience, with personalized service, privacy, tranquility and simplicity in World Heritage of Vietnam. Indochina Sails is a subsidiary of Huong Hai Junks, one of the first companies to offer tourist cruising on Halong Bay, Vietnam. Backed by 10 years [http://Www.Google.Co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=experience%20hosting&gs_l=news experience hosting] international guests on the tranquil waters of the bay, Indochina Sails have set a new standard for luxury cruising. The first company to offer overnight cruises on the bay, Indochina Sails is now widely known as the number one choice for discerning [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] travelers, operating a fleet of four newly built wooden junks designed in time-honored traditional style, with contemporary and luxurious cabins and facilities. Indochina Sails had the opportunity to serve Miss Universe Contest in 2008 as well as Indochina Sails have served hundreds thousand travelers from Europe include Swedish to Halong Bay, Vietnam. TUR 2010 at G�teborg Name of attendee:�� Mrs. Le Phuong Nhi Position:�� Director of Sales & Marketing Stand No:�� A03:56 Email: customers-care@indochinasails.com Website: website bay cruises by Indochina Sails Vietnam attends TUR 2010 at G�teborg, Sweden

40 years ago young Thai protesters massacred

2018-07-04T18:10:06Z

MargeryDangelo:

BANGKOK (AP) - EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press Photographer Neal Ulevich won the Pulitzer Prize for his photos of the suppression of a left-wing student protest at Bangkok's Thammasat University on Oct. 6, 1976, and the brutal lynchings in its wake. Ulevich, then 30, arrived as a night of tension at the campus broke into a full-scale assault by paramilitary police on thousands of trapped and defenseless students. Even with experience covering the Vietnam War- he was on one of the last helicopters out when the American presence ended with the communist takeover in April 1975 - Ulevich was stunned by the scale of the violence. After winning the Pulitzer, he said his happiness "must be tempered with grim memories of the day. If there is any value in the pictures it is that they may have made some people pause and think about the wider issues such as hatred and violence." FILE - In this Oct. 6, 1976 file photo blood streaming down his face, a leftist student, center, wounded and captured by police is helped to an ambulance at the Thammasat University campus in Bangkok, Thailand. For some Thais, the bloody events of October 6, 1976 are still a nightmare. On that day, heavily armed security forces shot up Bangkok's Thammasat University campus and killed scores of students, while right-wing vigilantes captured would-be escapees, subjecting them to [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm] ghoulish lynchings. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich,File) Ulevich wrote this first-person account, which the AP published soon after the massacre. ___ In a real riot no one knows you're there. So as gunfire crackled over the campus of Bangkok's Thammasat University Wednesday morning, I pushed my way through an angry sea of rightists and found a hole in the high metal fence surrounding the campus. I paused momentarily while Boy Scouts pushed through the fence the body of a soldier with a chest wound. I jumped through. The police were on the attack and the rightists were cheering their support. Troops armed with M-16 rifles were spraying wild fire across a quadrangle, shattering classroom windows and nicking holes in the walls. With some Indochina combat coverage behind me, I could hear that more than 90 percent of the fire was going in one direction - toward the students. Occasionally it seemed a round came back. On the quadrangle, troopers worked their way toward classrooms. Some of the troopers tossed hand grenades through the windows. The "garrumph" of a grenade going off was followed by a puff of smoke and the tinkle of showering glass. Then the recoilless rifle crew moved up. It wasn't immediately clear why the border patrol police were there, or why they thought they needed an armor-piercing antitank weapon to conquer students. The two-man crew moved forward, followed by a shaggy right-winger carrying a box of ammunition. They blasted more classrooms. A few minutes later, about 9:30 a.m., the battle seemed over. Students began to pour out of campus buildings, some wounded. I began to move forward, 50 yards behind the soldiers. I began to feel [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] apprehensive, just as I did in Vietnam when crossing open ground. And with good reason. The shooting began again. The students threw themselves to the ground - I did, too - as the Thai police emptied more [http://Www.Lifebeyondtourism.org/?header_search=thousands thousands] of rounds into the classrooms. The fire slackened and the students got up. I reached the nearest classroom building. At the door, students were running out, diving to their hands and knees and crawling past [http://www.fool.com/search/solr.aspx?q=soldiers soldiers] who told them to take off their shirts, and coeds their blouses. Slow performance earned a kick. A grenade went off in a classroom above us, showering troops and their captives with glass and plaster. The students crawled toward the center of the quadrangle to lie in the hot sun. I was joined by a German reporter who speaks Thai, and we walked out through the gate. Then we were out on the street - close by the pleasant green trees that surround the Pramaine Ground site of Bangkok's colorful weekend fair. But then we saw the angry swarm of Thais around two of those trees and their anger was white hot. I saw the body of a dead student hanging from one tree. The scene was being repeated just a few feet away. I don't know how much earlier the students had been lynched - probably just a few minutes - but enraged rightists felt robbed by death and continued to batter the bodies. Other Thais who witnessed the 1973 student riots here said the earlier uprising, which left 70 dead, never evoked the brutality or hatred of Wednesday's attack on the students. No one had seen me. I had wandered throughout and taken pictures unmolested. But I had seen enough, and left. FILE - In this Oct. 6, 1976 file photo a member of a Thai political faction strikes at the lifeless body of a hanged student outside Thammasat University in Bangkok Oct. 6, 1976. For some Thais, the bloody events of October 6, 1976 are still a nightmare. On that day, heavily armed security forces shot up Bangkok's Thammasat University campus and killed scores of students, while right-wing vigilantes captured would-be escapees, subjecting them to ghoulish lynchings. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, File) FILE - In this Oct. 6, 1976 file photo, police stand guard over leftist Thai students on a soccer field at Thammasat University, in Bangkok, Thailand. For some Thais, the bloody events of October 6, 1976 are still a nightmare. On that day, heavily armed security forces shot up Bangkok's Thammasat University campus and killed scores of students, while right-wing vigilantes captured would-be escapees, subjecting them to ghoulish lynchings. (AP Photo/Gary Mangkorn, File) FILE - In this Oct. 6, 1976 file photo leftist students who surrendered to police lie on the ground of the soccer field at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, awaiting orders from their captors. For some Thais, the bloody events of October 6, 1976 are still a nightmare. On that day, heavily armed security forces shot up Bangkok's Thammasat University campus and killed scores of students, while right-wing vigilantes captured would-be escapees, subjecting them to ghoulish lynchings. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, File) FILE - In this Oct 6, 1976 file photo a policeman kicks a leftist student who surrendered moments before as police moved in on Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand. For some Thais, the bloody events of October 6, 1976 are still a nightmare. On that day, heavily armed security forces shot up Bangkok's Thammasat University campus and killed scores of students, while right-wing vigilantes captured would-be escapees, subjecting them to ghoulish lynchings. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, File) FILE - In this Oct. 6, 1976, file photo, police fire a shell as they storm the walls of Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand. For some Thais, the bloody events of October 6, 1976, are still a nightmare. On that day, heavily armed security forces shot up Bangkok's Thammasat University campus and killed scores of students, while right-wing vigilantes captured would-be escapees, subjecting them to ghoulish lynchings. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, File) FILE - In this Oct. 6, 1976 file photo a member of a Thai political faction strikes at the lifeless body of a hanged student outside Thammasat University in Bangkok Oct. 6, 1976. For some Thais, the bloody events of October 6, 1976 are still a nightmare. On that day, heavily armed security forces shot up Bangkok's Thammasat University campus and killed scores of students, while right-wing vigilantes captured would-be escapees, subjecting them to ghoulish lynchings. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, File) Advertisement

Chasing leaks is a road to hell in Washington. See: Nixon.

2018-07-04T00:58:58Z

MargeryDangelo:

By Tim Weiner Feb 28 (Reuters) - (Editor�s note: Language in paragraph 17 may be offensive to some readers.) The Trump White House has moved at warp speed toward historic achievements. Sadly, these may include violations of the spirit and letter of the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Trump tweeted this on Friday: "The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security `leakers� that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself.... FIND NOW." When Trump hits Caps Lock, take heed. Informed citizens know well that the FBI is conducting a counterintelligence investigation into links between Russian cyber-saboteurs and the 2016 Trump campaign. [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] They�ve read first-rate reporting by the nation�s leading news organizations on the case. The president evidently suspects that somewhere in a dark parking garage in the District of Columbia, the feds are ratting him out as reporters in fedoras furtively scribble shorthand notes. Maybe they�re using a state-of-the-art encrypted app instead, but more on that in a minute. Trump wants this case to vanish - and who can blame him? The tweeter-in-chief calls it "A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT." But if there�s a trail of evidence connecting the gilded chambers of Trump Tower and the chandeliered suites of the Kremlin, the FBI will follow it. The president appears to be seeking to strong-arm the Bureau, scare White House staffers, silence Congress, stanch the leaks, and stop the press. Trump keeps attacking reporters as the "enemy of the people" - a pithy phrase last in vogue when Vladimir Lenin ran the Russian revolution a hundred years ago. Trump�s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, talked to FBI director James Comey the other day. They weren�t reviewing security for the next Easter Egg [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] Roll on the White House lawn. The subject at hand was the reporting on Vladimir Putin�s spies and Trump�s campaign - and the president�s rage against it. Comey responded correctly, with stony silence. He certainly didn�t say Priebus had been "extremely careless," though come to think of it, he could have. The last time a White House chief of staff set out to impede an FBI investigation that threatened a president was a few days after the Watergate break-in in June 1972. H.R. Haldeman was acting on orders of Richard Nixon, caught on a reel-to-reel recording. They called it the smoking gun tape. Haldeman went to prison. Nixon went into exile. I�m not a special prosecutor, and I can�t say it�s an obstruction of justice to pressure Comey and Congress on the gravest counterintelligence case of the 21st century (the federal statute on obstruction of justice covers "endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede" a federal investigation). When a president picks a fight against the FBI and compares the CIA to Nazis, it�s in a way worse than a crime. It�s a blunder. This White House can�t keep making such mistakes. And as for escalating his battle against the press? Bad idea. "I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy," former President George W. Bush said Monday on NBC�s "Today" show. "Power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power." I know - I had to read it twice too. The White House is attacking the media - and its sources inside the government - on many fronts. Last week, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, put his staff on notice that their calls will be monitored. He specifically warned them against using encrypted communications apps like Signal and Confide. Now Trump is eyeball-to-eyeball with his [http://www.Groundreport.com/?s=chief%20lawmen chief lawmen]. The last thing this White House wants to do is drive itself crazy chasing down leaks - especially when they involve a scintilla of evidence suggesting the abuse of power by a president. That is the road to hell in Washington. And we have travelled that road before. Fifty-five days into his presidency, Nixon started sending great waves of B-52 bombers over Cambodia. The United States was not at war with Cambodia and the attacks were supposed to be a secret. They did not stay secret. Nixon summoned his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, into the Oval Office on April 25, 1969, and he ordered Kissinger to take responsibility for the leaks. Kissinger followed orders. With help from J. Edgar Hoover, he starting wiretapping members of his own National Security Council staff. The targets of the taps grew to include 13 United States government officials at the NSC, the Pentagon, and the State Department, along with four newspaper reporters. They were not foreign spies. They were American citizens. The White House received the wiretap transcripts - and they were useless, Nixon later said: nothing but "gossip and bullshitting." The National Security Agency had its own watch list in those days, which grew to include two United States senators. One was Frank Church, an Idaho Democrat who sponsored the first bipartisan legislation against the war in Indochina. The other was Howard Baker, a Tennessee Republican, who famously asked at the 1973 Watergate hearings: "What did the president know, and when did he know it?" All this - and the Watergate burglary team, known as the Plumbers, because they were created to stop leaks - was in part a presidential war against the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and of the press. Back then, the pen proved mightier than the presidential sword. Today? Well, we�ll see, won�t we? Trump doesn�t take a lot of free advice. But the president should be counseled on this point. He should not interpose the power of his office between reporters and their sources in the executive and legislative branches of the government. He cannot go on the warpath against the FBI, Congress, and the press corps over leaks. Those three forces are in constant opposition. But a free press can work in concert with federal investigators. If they align against the White House, a critical mass of shared information will gather. That information could someday take the shape of a subpoena seeking the traces of a smoking gun. And an FBI agent can serve that subpoena at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It happened in 1973. It could happen again. (By Tim Weiner) Advertisement

Railway to ruin: Hanoi train factory fades from glory

2018-07-02T13:53:38Z

MargeryDangelo:

The Gia Lam train factory in Hanoi was the first in the then-French territory established to bolster the expanding rail network of the time Built by the French to fix trains for their fast-developing Vietnamese colony, the Gia Lam factory later churned out weapons to fuel the country's independence fight, and then survived the onslaught of American bombers during the war. But the storied Hanoi plant is now in decline, a victim of the rising consumer power of Vietnam's middle classes as [https://www.Herfeed.com/?s=passengers passengers] turn from trains to planes. The storied Hanoi plant is now in decline, a victim of the rising consumer power of Vietnam's middle classes as passengers turn from trains to planes "In the past, I was proud to work here because this factory was the biggest in Indochina," repairman Au Duy Hien told AFP. Opened in 1905, Gia Lam was the first train factory in the then-French territory, which spanned modern-day Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mechanics used the base to first fix and then assemble the engines and carriages that served the region's rapid push toward industrialisation. The factory was taken over by the Vietnamese in the 1940s, expanding production to make bazookas and grenades for revolutionaries fighting the colonial rulers who were finally thrown out in 1954 The factory was taken over by the Vietnamese in the 1940s, expanding production to make bazookas and grenades for revolutionaries fighting the colonial rulers who were finally thrown out in 1954. And then it continued to make weapons during the Vietnam War -- even as it was bombed by US planes targeting Communist-backed revolutionaries in northern Vietnam. - Running out of steam [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] - Output at the factory is down more than 90 percent since its 1990s heyday and it is now mostly used to repair old trains, with little demand for new carriages on the country's vast but outdated rail network But today, output is down more than 90 percent since its 1990s heyday. It is now mostly used to repair old trains, with little demand for new carriages on the country's vast but outdated rail network. The industry is struggling to keep pace with the lure of low-cost air travel. For many, the choice between a clanging, slow-moving train or a quick -- and cheap -- plane is a no-brainer. In 2015, 31 million people [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] travelled by air, more than double the number [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] in 2010, according to official statistics. Train use remained steady at 11 million for the year. Today, some companies are seeking to revive the colonial romance of rail travel, offering first-class trips, wood-lined cabins with restaurant car. The air travel industry in Vietnam has taken off in recent years, aided by the launch of low-cost airlines offering cheap tickets. In 2015, 31 million Vietnamese took to the skies, more than double the number who flew in 2010 "If rail transportation isn't developed, then the railway industry cannot be revived," union boss Nguyen Anh Tuan told AFP. Some lawmakers recently called for private investment into the state-controlled sector, and the country's parliament is currently considering revising the law. But unless the industry sees a major upturn in fortunes, Gia Lam employees fear it will soon run out of steam. Advertisement

Dragon bets on blockchain to cut costs for Asia s gambling business

2018-06-29T21:48:49Z

MargeryDangelo:

By Farah Master HONG KONG, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Dragon Inc, which is looking to raise more than $400 million in what would be the world's largest initial coin offering (ICO), is betting its focus on Asia's booming gambling industry can lure investors despite mounting concerns over a bubble forming in the virtual currency bitcoin. Dragon [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] Chief Executive Chakrit Ahmad told Reuters the company had secured four junket partners - operators that connect China's wealthy punters to casinos in Macau and elsewhere - who had already committed a total $265 million in a private sale of the tokens, accounting for more than half of those available. In a proposal paper reviewed by Reuters, Dragon said its business model uses blockchain technology to get around the costly credit processes often used by the opaque junket industry, which contributes to more than half of gambling revenues in the Chinese territory of Macau. The use of [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=blockchain%20technology&Submit=Go blockchain technology] means transaction costs are around 1 percent, rather than typical junket transaction fees of around 5-7 percent. "We provide a better, more convenient and more cost-effective solution for them. If they (gamblers) want to exchange their winnings into fiat currency and then carry it themselves, they are free to do so. But the likelihood is they will revert back to digital currencies," Ahmad said. The public sale of the tokens on December 8 comes amid explosive growth of ICOs to raise money in cryptocurrencies. An ICO allows the issuer to raise funds without having to fulfil often [http://www.Dict.cc/?s=rigorous%20regulatory rigorous regulatory] requirements that would have to be met by venture capitalists or companies in mainstream markets. Some regulators say such schemes lack transparency and carry major risks. ICOs and bitcoin are banned in mainland China. Dragon investors will get tokens that can be exchanged for gambling chips in Dragon-affiliated casinos or they can hold the tokens for investment purposes. The proceeds raised will initially be used to support Dragon's junket operators by providing them with funds to establish systems that will exchange Dragon's digital tokens for gambling chips. The ultimate goal stated in the proposal is to fund the construction of a floating casino hotel which would only accept Dragon tokens. Some Macau watchers are sceptical of the business model due to increased [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] scrutiny from Beijing and as more than 90 percent of punters in Macau originate from the mainland. "If it facilitates funds moving out from China it is subject to China's view on it," said Ben Lee, managing partner at Macau- based consultancy IGamiX. Macau's Monetary Authority said it had told financial institutions not to provide services directly or indirectly for tokens and virtual currencies due to considerable risks, including money laundering and terrorist financing. Macau's Gambling Inspection and Coordination Bureau did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Dragon's Ahmad said the ICO would not be affected by China's ban as many investors hail from Hong Kong and Macau as well as Japan, South Korea and Russia. FORMER GANG BOSS Junket operators, also known as VIP room promoters, act as facilitators for Macau's huge casino resorts, such as those run by Wynn Macau and Sands China, and operate in a legal grey area where they are not permitted to provide credit facilities and collect debts in the Chinese mainland. Instead, they utilize an opaque network of agents - making it harder to regulate the businesses. Dragon's Ahmad said the company planned to start operations in Indochina in January and Macau by the first quarter of 2018. The ICO grabbed attention when former Macau gang boss Wan "Broken Tooth" Kuok-koi, who served 14 years in jail for attempted murder, loan sharking and money laundering, attended a signing ceremony in September. Ahmad said that Wan was not tied to Dragon's junket partners. Lawrence Ho, head of Melco Resorts - with casinos in the Philippines and Macau - told Reuters he would be fine with junkets operating in his casinos using digital currencies, provided it was allowed by the regulator. Still, a Macau gaming consultant who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the ICO would likely set off alarm bells in Beijing. "It is clearly aimed at mainland players, who make up 90 percent of gaming volumes, giving them a digital way to circumvent the country's forex controls," he said. (Reporting by Farah Master; Additional reporting by Thomas Wilson in Tokyo; Editing by Martin Howell) Advertisement

A expedition with Indochina Sails 1 June 2008

2018-06-26T01:40:24Z

MargeryDangelo:

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.� 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 [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] 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 [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] 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 [http://www.blogher.com/search/apachesolr_search/figured 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.� 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 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 we're at the exclusive spot.� We took in the beautiful night, then decided we better head to bed.� We have another early start tomorrow and we were pretty exhausted from the day.� I am so ready for a comfy bed!� Ciao for now! Source: Travelpod

User:MargeryDangelo

2018-06-26T01:38:06Z

MargeryDangelo: Created page with "My name is Margery Dangelo but everybody calls me Margery. I'm from Sweden. I'm studying at the high school (2nd year) and I play the Xylophone for 10 years. Usually I choose..."

My name is Margery Dangelo but everybody calls me Margery. I'm from Sweden. I'm studying at the high school (2nd year) and I play the Xylophone for 10 years. Usually I choose music from the famous films :D. I have two brothers. I like Skydiving, watching movies and Baton twirling. Here is my weblog [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh]