One of our favorite days in Vietnam was the day we spent on a junk boat in Halong Bay. Hundreds of karsts rise out of the aqua water in the bay, some quite small and others large. We cruised all through the bay, out to the edge looking into the Gulf of Tonkin. At several points during the day we stopped to kayak around the karsts and swim off the boat.
Passing by some local fishermen
At the beginning of the day we had several climbers with us on the boat, whom we dropped off at this island to climb for the day. At the end of the day when we went back to pick them up, the boat anchored out a ways and we swam from the boat to the beach to hang out there for a bit.
Aren't the karsts amazing? It feels otherworldly to be out among them... no one else around, more and more karsts appearing out of the mist. Beautiful!
We had so much fun jumping off the boat into the amazingly warm water!
And of course there were flips...
Gwen was her usual fearless self, jumping with ease off the top of the boat, egged on by the older kids.
We kayaked into several caves, all but one of which were not really true caves but rather low passageways through karsts that would be filled with water at high tide. One was a true cave that didn't have a way out on the other side. The boys forged ahead without listening carefully to our guide and ended up in complete darkness, not knowing which way to paddle to get out! They were stuck in the cave in the dark for only a couple of minutes, but they told the tale again and again for the next couple of days!
Heading through a karst to the beautiful green karst-ringed bay on the other side.
Gwen was not given her own paddle, but took a few turns with mine and was fairly effective paddling me around a little!
Heading back to the boat for more jumping off!
Nice dive, Seth!
The fisherman who stores the kayaks we used at his floating fish farm in Halong Bay tugs them home at the end of the day.
It was a wonderful day. :-)
One of our favorite days in Vietnam was the day we spent on a junk boat in Halong Bay. Hundreds of karsts rise out of the aqua water in the bay, some quite small and others large. We cruised all through the bay, out to the edge looking into the Gulf of Tonkin. At several points during the day we stopped to kayak around the karsts and swim off the boat.
Passing by some local fishermen
At the beginning of the day we had several climbers with us on the boat, whom we dropped off at this island to climb for the day. At the end of the day when we went back to pick them up, the boat anchored out a ways and we swam from the boat to the beach to hang out there for a bit.
Aren't the karsts amazing? It feels otherworldly to be out among them... no one else around, more and more karsts appearing out of the mist. Beautiful!
We had so much fun jumping off the boat into the amazingly warm water!
And of course there were flips...
Gwen was her usual fearless self, jumping with ease off the top of the boat, egged on by the older kids.
We kayaked into several caves, all but one of which were not really true caves but rather low passageways through karsts that would be filled with water at high tide. One was a true cave that didn't have a way out on the other side. The boys forged ahead without listening carefully to our guide and ended up in complete darkness, not knowing which way to paddle to get out! They were stuck in the cave in the dark for only a couple of minutes, but they told the tale again and again for the next couple of days!
Heading through a karst to the beautiful green karst-ringed bay on the other side.
Heading back to the boat for more jumping off!
Nice dive, Seth!
The fisherman who stores the kayaks we used at his floating fish farm in Halong Bay tugs them home at the end of the day.
It was a wonderful day. :-)
6 comments:
All I can say is FANTASTIC!
amazing pictures! look at the water!
This really looks like a movie set from Lord of the Rings or a pirate movie. And it looks like it'd be really easy to get lost amongst the karsts! How fun.
Lynne, the pictures are so beautiful, amazing, otherworldly, so unlike what many of us picture when we think of Viet Nam! Who would picture it as a vacation destination! What an amazing time you had! Mom
I have to echo the others at "amazing"! I wish our family could have been there with you all!
Incredibly beautiful and magical!!! I'm glad you got to go!
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