Halong Bay - squid fishing

We went squid fishing off the back of our boat that night. We didn't catch any (it wasn't 'squid season') but it was a lot of fun!

Halong Bay - food

Halong Bay - the cove

We took a boat to a protected cove. The only entrance was under one of the karsts. It was a tight fit! But we made it, and the still waters in the cove and the silence there was really neat.

Halong Bay - the cave

We sailed to the entrance to a cave, walked around inside, and exited out to get back on our boat (along with the folks from the other boats doing the same thing). Neat cave!

Halong Bay - the bay

Some pictures of Halong Bay itself - note the famous limestone karsts rising out of the sea. The time of year we went meant that the weather was a bit cooler, and there was sort of a misty haze hanging over the bay. It was mysterious, and romantic. We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on the cruise, and at night we could see the other boats anchored around us in the bay, lit up like Christmas trees.

Halong Bay - our boat

Smaller boats ferried people from the Halong bay harbor to the tour boats. Our boat was cozy and quaint, and there were only two other couples with us on the boat. As with most of the tour boats, ours was a wooden boat made in the old style of a Chinese junk, with sails. It had cabins on the bottom deck, and the eating area on the top deck.

Halong Bay - en route

We took a 10 day vacation to northern and central Vietnam in early December. Here are a couple scenes from the road from Hanoi to Halong Bay.

We saw a number of horses still in use as beasts of burden.

Also, there was a surprising amount of corn being grown in the Hanoi area - much of the countryside there uncannily reminded us of rural Wisconsin/Minnesota.


We saw a common sight in both Vietnam and much of the rest of Southeast Asia - a motor scooter being used to haul some serious cargo.

We also saw some hand embroidery in progress at a rest stop/souvenier stand.