ESL Blogs

Last Sunday I took one day trip to the sea because I felt bored in the crowded noisy city and needed somewhere quiet to throw away my worries. I would not choose this place to visit in summer because it will be really crowded. But it is winter now and I love winter.

The place I visited is Halong bay where is not far from Hanoi city. It took me about 7 hours on the car and I had only 4 hours on a cruise ship sailing around the bay to enjoy the scenery. Well, with such schedule there were not many activities to do. I spent most of the time sitting on the ship deck to contemplate the beautiful view. I was hypnotized by the beauty of the sea and rocks and the fresh atmosphere. For me, no camera can compare with my own eyes but I still took some pictures.

The weather was really nice that day. The temperature was about 15-19 Celcius degree with cool breeze. The sky was grey and the sea surface was quiet like a mirror. Although it was afternoon when I took these pictures, it looked a bit misty there.

I took a Panorama picture but was not careful and capture a part of another tourist. I was even too lazy to take another picture.  ^_^

Most of cruise ships look similar to this one.

I saw a lot of eagles but this is all I could capture. I just looked up the sky to watch them gliding high over the rocks until I felt the pain of my neck. I envy them. T_T

Another thing I enjoyed during this trip is people I met. I took this trip alone but it turned out I was not alone. The bus picked me up at travelling agency where I booked this tour at about 8:30 am. A man stood up to let me sit by the window. It was great because I always want to sit by the window to have better view of outside. I intended to take a sleep and wake up at the beach but it was not a short drive and sometimes the bus rocked because of the rough road. I had nothing to do because I just found out I forgot the backup battery of my mobile at home so that I have to save the battery until I came home.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the man sat next to me was learning English on his mobile phone. I said hello and we talked. He became talkative after I started the conversation. Kosta is his name and he is from Ukraine. He told me he has been travelling alone for 14 months through many countries. This time he has left China for Vietnam and is waiting for his visa to Myanmar. He talked enthusiastically about the places he visited and showed me pictures he took. Sometimes he stopped to find the words in English to express his thoughts or to check the words I said in his dictionary. Then, he invited me a cup of tea from the bottle he always bring in his bag. He is crazy about this tea which he bought in China. I thought he is a cute young guy but turned out he is 11 years older than me.

On our way to the sea, the bus stopped at a restaurant so that tourists could go to toilet or buy some food, souvenirs. There I talked with a girl from Thailand. Her name is Dolly and she looked quiet. We did not talk much but I felt comfortable going with her from that time to the end of our trip. She is Thai mixed Indian. Her eyes are so beautiful like the eyes of Indian actresses I saw in movies. HEHE :D . We just quietly went together during the day, help each other to take pictures. And we also did not forget to take a selfie together. ^_^

So this is my short but great trip. I was able to cast some of my worries into that beautiful sea.