The,real,reason,visit,Long,Bay travel,insurance The real reason to visit Ha Long Bay....
Like any American, traveling occasionally is just what I love doing and I bet you share the same stuff with me. But traveling does not mean that you would be safe. Escaping from our job and other stressful activities is just something that w Torres del Paine is among the biggest of Chiles national parks, occupying almost 600,000 acres (242,000 ha) of land in the south on the border with Argentina. It is also among the most important, receiving a significant proportion of domes
Normally we are on a tight, tight backpacker budget that forces usinto fan cooled rooms with questionable stains on the walls, the soundsof the noisy street (or beach) keeping us awake. But for this, our onenight (well, my second one night) on Ha Long Bay sleeping in a junkboat, for this we decided to splash out a bit. And what a differencethat 20 extra dollars can make! The food on my trip last year had beengood - a solid good. But this year.....just look.The first course of lunch. We knew that things were looking goodwhen this plate of humongous shrimp (I like to call'em shramp) were setdown in front of us. We peeled these guys and dipped them (who am Itrying to kid? I bathed mine...) in the limey, salty peppery mixtureyou see at the top of this page.I will let you in on a secret. I like eating squid, octopus andcuttlefish the most when they are purple. I have no idea why. When youplace a plate of pale white calamari in front of me my stomach is like"nope" but when I see a piece of tako that is the colour of concordgrape juice something in my brain breaks and I become submissive to itscharms.Yes - we are still on lunch! You may recall that I am normally avegetarian (an ass kickin' food lovin' one) but on this trip I decidedto eat fish because frankly, I think they are dicks. The wonderfulstaff on this boat made us an entirely pescetarian 5-course meal. Thiswas a lovely fish steak smothered in a sort of Vietnamese warm salsa -tomatoes, onions both spring and white, chili and of course, garlic.Our boat was much nicer than our course backpacker senses wereaccustomed to. Every thing was dark wood polished to a high sheen -very posh.We eyed the requisite karaoke machine with suspicion, knowing fullwell that all of the Da Lat wine and Ha Noi beer was going to loosen usup enough to give it a go. But first, a perfect simple photo of a coldtowel in a little laquered basket.I am really at my very happiest when a meal begins with a vase ofjumbo shramp and some carved vegetable flowers. I want every meal tostart with these things. Do not be surprised if you come to my houseand I present you with a tall refreshing glass of shrimp and a carrotrosette before you're even all the way in the door.These were in served in a really light broth - mostly clam nectarand garlic and were very delicate and pretty, but....I have had a badrelationship with bivalves since a terrible, horrible, life changing-lybad bout of food poisoning from mussels a few years ago. Only recentlyhave I been able to even entertain the notion of placing a clamanywhere near my mouth - but these boys made the cut! Cautiously, mindyou - I only ate about 5 and even then was terrified to go to sleep, asif they were little clam axe-murderers just waiting for me to relax andclose my eyes.For the grand finale: crab shells stuffed with crab cakes. Just when Iwas feeling a little riced out, a little accosted with lemongrass (Ihate the stuff and am pummeled with it daily) they brought these littlegems out. Now, I don't harbour any notions that these are in any wayVietnamese other than the fact that the crab lived here, but let metell you: I was one pinch of Old Bay Seasoning and a little pot ofaioli away from sheer bliss.I will always remember my first time to Ha Long Bay. I will rememberthe beauty, the eerie calm, the almost spooky way that the karst rockformations jut out from the murky sea. It was magic in the truest senseof the word.But my second trip? I will think about those tiny limes, the plumpshrimp, the delicate blush of an octopus tentacle, the meatiness of therich crab meat.And I'll look you straight in the eye and tell you that the first time was more meaningful.You'll believe me, right?vRealated to Ha long bayHa Long cruise: Indochinasails: www.indochinasails.comHa Long kayaking: www.kayakhalongbay.com
The,real,reason,visit,Long,Bay