Halong Bay, Vietnam

Halong Bay - in the Gulf of Tonkin - approximately 100 km south of the border with China.
A Unesco World Nature Site.

Chinese style houseboats in the early morning mist create an ethereal mood. We spent 3 days on one of the boats.

Boats negotiate between the over 2000 limestone islands that rise from the emerald waters.

Hang Sung Sot - surprising cave - a narrow entrance expands into three vast chambers. People at the lower left of the photograph provide a reference of scale.

The houseboats gather amid the rock formations at dusk.

The dining room and bar inside our houseboat - 12 passengers with a crew of 10. Excellent meals; early morning Tai Chi on the top deck; a cooking lesson before dinner.

Phan Hoan, Thoan Nguyen, Co Dai - fellow passengers from Vietnam.

Local man and wife fish the waters and sell their fresh catch to the houseboats.

Fresh grilled shrimp served with lime juice/fish oil dipping sauce and jasmine rice.

Kayaking and swimming in Lan Ha Bay.

A rare sand beach accessible only by kayaking through a narrow cave into a hidden bay.

Monkeys watched from the cliffs overhead.

On the upper deck heading back towards Halong City - then 4 hours by bus to Hanoi.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi was grey, overcast, hazy and polluted from 2 million motorcycles plying the streets. Black and white seemed the right medium to depict the Old City.

An elderly woman reads her morning paper - sitting on the curb at a street corner.

Motorcycles relentlessly ply the streets in all directions. To cross by foot there is rarely an opening - just go - at a slow and steady pace - and somehow they avoid you.

A woman carrys her goods for sale in a timeless tradition.

Typical street corner - congested with parked motorcycles - pedestrians often
 walk on the street with the traffic.

A man receives a haircut and a shave on the sidewalk.

Lunch of noodle soup with beef or chicken is consumed sitting on small blue plastic stools on the sidewalks and street corners.

Scooters carry large loads of anything and everything - from styrofoam to live pigs.

The entrance to Ngoc Son Temple - situated on a small island in Hoan Kiem Lake.

Huc Bridge - a red arched bridge spans from the city to the lake. Several brides and grooms were having wedding pictures taken on the bridge and around the lake.

Martyrs' Monument pays homage to wars fought in Vietnam against invading nations.

A Buddhist temple at House 102 on Hang Bac street - we were invited to join the ceremony.

Birds are kept in wire cages all over the city. One person said the bird population was decimated by Agent Orange sprayed during the war in the 1970s and had never recovered. From then on we kept a look out but rarely observed any birds flying in the city.

     
Tattoo shops and spas of questionable services are available in small side streets.

Large loads on small motorcycles are a way of daily life.

Produce markets spring up anywhere selling live eels from plastic buckets.

The relentless motorcycles ...... we rode for half an hour in one of these rickshaws and faced them head on at the intersections.

Finally - a splash of color - fresh flowers engulfing a bicycle.

Incense at a temple provides a moment for contemplation and tranquility.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Market day functions and looks as it has for centuries - everything and more is for sale.

Dragonfruit - exotically colourful - is less flavourful than passionfruit or lychee nuts.

Ornately painted entrance door to a Chinese store on Nguyen Thai Hoc.

Hundreds of designs and colors - silk fabric lanterns on display outside a small shop.

Fishing nets hang above the An Hoi River - similar nets lie just below the surface.

Local boats provide transport along the river and across.

A man and woman exchange currencies - the man missing his left leg. Reportedly 40,000 Vietnamese have been killed or maimed by 150,000 tons of UXOs since the Americans fled Saigon in April1975.

Bicycle rickshaw driver in no hurry to find his next fare.

Private courtyard behind a small shop off from the main road.

Buddhist monk performing a prayer ceremony - one of the shop keeper's family members had recently passed away.

Insence and small offerings in front of the woman's shop.

Japanese Pagoda Bridge is over 500 years old.

Walking into the future.

Looking out for - number - one.