Scenes from Vietnam: Ha Long Bay

The following are images from a three day boat excursion through Ha Long Bay in Northern Vietnam.
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To drift through Ha Long Bay is to navigate mountain tops, a radical departure from the chaos of Hanoi and the ubiquitous rice paddies of the countryside.

The jagged landscape of the islands is less hospitable than the sheltered water of the bay.  When you encounter locals here, they are generally afloat.

Even when they are at home.

Depending on the time of visit you might catch a few glipses of blue sky, but the rainy season here keeps the island wrapped in an ethereal aura of fog for most of our stay.

The mist lends an air of the surreal, to the already unfamiliar landscape.