A storm is forecast to hit coastal Haiphong tomorrow, the weatherman says almost cheerfully, and bang goes my much-anticipated four-hour tour of Halong Bay. “Cat Ba Island means ‘Women’s Island’ and it was here that our women helped the Vietnamese army fight against the enemies. At the heart of Cat Ba Island, we also have the visually stunning and ecologically diverse Cat Ba National Park, a World Heritage Site designated as a biosphere reserve in northern Vietnam,” Tien explains. The tunnels and guns here were first installed by the Japanese in WWII, but later used |by the French and Vietnamese,” |Tien says. That’s the first thing we’ll do when we reach Hanoi,” Tien says with a smile.

Source: The Nation Bangkok November 15, 2016 14:18 UTC