The Charms of Vietnam's Halong Bay

What images do your mind conjure up with the word 'Vietnam'? Mine was totally unimaginative with visions of bustling streets and ubiquitous rice fields with the lone buffalo toiling away ...





So it was with much surprise when I heard of the so-called Vietnam's answer to China's Guilin, supposedly a picturesque artwork of hills and H20....

I've not found my way to Guilin yet, so I can't comment on whether Halong is in Guilin's league. But I think beauty need not be a zero-sum game, and it doesn't take any particular expert eye to discern that Halong is truly pretty with lolling stalagmites born out of their roots from the green sea; each unique specimen serving as monuments to the nifty actwork of our omniscient Mother Nature