It’s time to tell you about Vietnam. I don’t typically belabor my travels and try to sum up my experiences in a few posts, but my North to South journey was filled with…well, so much of a little bit of everything, one or two tales would not do Vietnam justice. I hope you enjoy it as I take you to Vietnam, through my lens.

Let’s start with our trip to Ha Long Bay. We spent the first night in Hanoi, and quickly set off for the coast. Weary travelers all, we were relieved to escape the madness of the city, and to recuperate from our jet lag in more relaxed settings.

A wanna be resort town, the coastline was littered with half-constructed villas and empty tour boats, waiting for the throngs of tourists that they were at some point meant to serve, or are waiting to serve once again when warmer weather makes its way back North. I’m also not sure if it was a product of the upcoming New Year, but some of those projects looked long forgotten, along with the dreams they once held.

We boarded a dingy which took us to our palace on water for the night.

photo credit: H

I think all of us had low expectations, but our maritime accommodations were quite pleasant, the only lacking amenity a hair dryer.

Which didn’t matter since wind blown was the way to go anyway!

Our boat cruised through the bay and with sunny skies and brisk air, we were able to sit outside to take in the spectacular view.

Before we anchored for the night, we paddled along to reach the Sung Sot Cave, a UNECO world heritage site, to oogle the stalactites and stalagmites within the rocky façade.

Passing a fisherman or two, hard at work, on the way.

We, along with so many other visitors, wove through the shadows, taking the wonder that Mother Nature herself created, hoping that there were no bats looking to make new friends.