Cruising through the misty Halong Bay
Ha Long Bay, located in the Gulf of Tonkin, in the northeast of Vietnam, is 165 km from the capital of Hanoi. Covering an a area of 43,400 ha and including over 1600 islands and islets, most of which are uninhabited and unaffected by humans, it forms a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars and is an ideal model of a mature Karst landscape developed during a warm and wet tropical climate.
Halong Bay is touristy, but for good reason. What makes Ha Long very unique is the scenery of thousands of tiny islands scattered across the sea, rising straight out of the water like jagged teeth. It would still be worth experiencing Halong Bay even in the rain and mist (the bay is actually known for its ‘foggy’ look) as it has happened to me in a new two-day visit in January 2012. The fog emphasized the beautiful layers effect caused by the varying distance of the different islands. As I have always been a big fan of such foggy weather, I was totally fascinated by the ghostly shapes of the islands emerging from the mist.
Ha Long Bay has a community of about 1,600 people who live in four fishing villages: Cua Vạn, Ba Hang, Cong Tau and Vong Vieng. The people live on floating houses and make their living by fishing and by marine aquaculture. Each village can have from 20 to 50 families, each boat a household, using fitting the length of a small boat. Not large by any means, with usually different generations living on one boat.
I had a great time on our overnight tour of Halong Bay. Our “junk” was impressive, met some good people, and saw some amazing things. The grey skies and foggy weather did create quite an interesting effect to the bay, something out of a fantasy book.
Cruising through the misty Halong Bay
Ha Long Bay, located in the Gulf of Tonkin, in the northeast of Vietnam, is 165 km from the capital of Hanoi. Covering an a area of 43,400 ha and including over 1600 islands and islets, most of which are uninhabited and unaffected by humans, it forms a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars and is an ideal model of a mature Karst landscape developed during a warm and wet tropical climate.
Halong Bay is touristy, but for good reason. What makes Ha Long very unique is the scenery of thousands of tiny islands scattered across the sea, rising straight out of the water like jagged teeth. It would still be worth experiencing Halong Bay even in the rain and mist (the bay is actually known for its ‘foggy’ look) as it has happened to me in a new two-day visit in January 2012. The fog emphasized the beautiful layers effect caused by the varying distance of the different islands. As I have always been a big fan of such foggy weather, I was totally fascinated by the ghostly shapes of the islands emerging from the mist.
Ha Long Bay has a community of about 1,600 people who live in four fishing villages: Cua Vạn, Ba Hang, Cong Tau and Vong Vieng. The people live on floating houses and make their living by fishing and by marine aquaculture. Each village can have from 20 to 50 families, each boat a household, using fitting the length of a small boat. Not large by any means, with usually different generations living on one boat.
I had a great time on our overnight tour of Halong Bay. Our “junk” was impressive, met some good people, and saw some amazing things. The grey skies and foggy weather did create quite an interesting effect to the bay, something out of a fantasy book.
