That pic is wonderful! It shows, great landscape, old architecture, provides a good sense of the area and has a pretty woman in a cool pose!
[RD] Backpacking Việt Nam (2019)
- Thread starter warpus
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warpus
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Hang Múa Peak
I was happy to have found that vantage point to photograph from, even though it was a bit sketchy up on top of the pointy rocks. Let me show you what the line was like for that photo op..
This line wraps around the set of rocks I was standing on top of and continues down the steps you take to get up here. It was as cramped up here as possible..
Here's another view of the line from the other summit:
I was happy to have found that vantage point to photograph from, even though it was a bit sketchy up on top of the pointy rocks. Let me show you what the line was like for that photo op..
This line wraps around the set of rocks I was standing on top of and continues down the steps you take to get up here. It was as cramped up here as possible..
Here's another view of the line from the other summit:
warpus
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Wedding Photography 101?
Spoiler :
warpus
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The other summit takes you a bit higher.. Right at the top sits a horned dragon
Few points stand out to me. That's an awfully flat area in one direction, and some really jagged rocks in the other. Big mix of traditional and Western clothes. The wedding couple is certainly in clothes that would look at home in an American wedding.
warpus
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Western clothing and brands were definitely popular from what I saw, especially with the younger crowd. I would bet that most of the traditionally looking straw hats were bought here for the photo ops.
As for the landscape, it is definitely very interesting! Ha Long Bay on land is definitely a good way to describe it.
As for the landscape, it is definitely very interesting! Ha Long Bay on land is definitely a good way to describe it.
Ah... now that you say it, I see what is so strange there.
I don't think we have any such landscapes in the west, no?
In 2019 I was invited to a wedding in India, and I asked an Indian friend regarding what clothing would be appropriate. A suit would apparently have been totally appropriate for the ceremony there. So I guess this has gotten more universal in the meantime...?
None that I know of. But giving it a little thought, wouldn't shock me if Columbia or Venezuela had something similar.
Just thinking on the geology, and spitballing more than a little, I'd guess that what we're looking at is the erosion of rocks due to seasonal monsoons, rather than to the snow and ice and glaciers of North America and Europe. And then the flat plain is a river delta, like around New Orleans. Which is to say that it's pretty flat because it's silt and sediment possibly 100s of feet deep which was deposited from erosion.
Still not what I would have really expected from a wedding there. But I've been told that some places like South Korea Western clothes have pretty much entirely displaced traditional.
warpus
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The Geology chapter of the Ha Long bay wikipedia article seems to describe how these structures formed. I am not an expert by any means, so I will not try to summarize this
If you scroll down a bit to the Timeline of geologic evolution table, it seems to provide a bit of a summary. The article is about Ha Long Bay, but it seems that the limestone cliffs formed using similar processes.
This wikipedia article might provide further information.
Guangxi Province in China is similar and also a world class tourist destination.
List of Karst areas in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_karst_areas
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warpus
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Suối Ngọc Trai
Pearl Spring Cave
This is the second of the two caves at the site. It leads to an underground pool as well as the other side of the karst tower (the limestone formation I climbed)
Pearl Spring Cave
This is the second of the two caves at the site. It leads to an underground pool as well as the other side of the karst tower (the limestone formation I climbed)
warpus
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Tam Cốc Boat Tour
A boat tour of the area departing from a nearby dock allowed me to explore the landscape from another vantage point.
I was able to find a video of the exact route set to somewhat appropriate music.
If you watch the video you'll see an interesting rowing style.. This method is used by those who spend a lot of time rowing in order to prevent chronic back pain problems.
A boat tour of the area departing from a nearby dock allowed me to explore the landscape from another vantage point.
I was able to find a video of the exact route set to somewhat appropriate music.
If you watch the video you'll see an interesting rowing style.. This method is used by those who spend a lot of time rowing in order to prevent chronic back pain problems.
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tjs282
Stone \ Cold / Fish
?!? How does that work?
Do the oars have stirrups? Or at least, a pair of flip-flops nailed onto them?
tjs282
Stone \ Cold / Fish
Not so much that, but unless the rower's feet are actually attached to the oars, the recovery stroke (lifting the blade out of the water and swinging it forwards again) cannot be executed, because that requires the oarsman to pull the inboard end of the oar towards their body.
You can also see the oarsmen 'feathering' the oars, turning the blade to be parallel with the water surface, on the recovery. If they were holding the oar-handles in their hands, this would be achieved by flexing/extending the wrist to rotate the oar. But here they would need to flex/extend their ankles, so again the oar handle (or should that be 'footle'?!
) will need to be attached to the oarsman's foot.Or they'd need very long toes.
warpus
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Their feet don't seem to be attached to the oars in any way. You can see some closeups of the technique in this video
You'll hear them talking about boat vendors.. The one we pulled up to was very pushy! They were selling overpriced fruit, drinks, and snacks. I already had snacks and a drink in my daypack, so I didn't really need anything. The boat vendor did not like that answer at all. There was no yelling, but from what I remember this was the first rude person I met in Vietnam.
You'll hear them talking about boat vendors.. The one we pulled up to was very pushy! They were selling overpriced fruit, drinks, and snacks. I already had snacks and a drink in my daypack, so I didn't really need anything. The boat vendor did not like that answer at all. There was no yelling, but from what I remember this was the first rude person I met in Vietnam.
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That rowing is as impressive as hell!
FriendlyFire
Codex WMDicanious
How overpriced ? Maybe he expected the rich looking westerner not to bulk at hes prices
The worse that will happen though is he may be rude, shouldn't be an issue with your personal safety since your with a tour group.
In China I never bargained for a lower price. If they ripped me off for $3 or $10, I did not care. They likely needed it more than me. I paid $5 for a foot massage I did not need and could have gotten for $1 if I'd tried, from a very aggressive, but sweet old lady. [I say old, but she was probably younger than me...
]
warpus
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I can't remember the price, but I do remember that it was heavily inflated. Me and the Australian lady in the boat didn't feel threatened, but we did have a brief conversation beforehand that we weren't going to be buying anything.. It seemed obvious to us that it was a scheme to get tourists to buy overpriced things, which you sort of hone a radar for as you travel.
In China I never bargained for a lower price. If they ripped me off for $3 or $10, I did not care. They likely needed it more than me. I paid $5 for a foot massage I did not need and could have gotten for $1 if I'd tried, from a very aggressive, but sweet old lady. [I say old, but she was probably younger than me...
I'll usually accept average tourist prices, but this was a case of exceptionally overpriced things I didn't need. Plus I made a pact with that lady
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