a quick dip in halong bay

at 20 or so knots our junk is intercepted by a tenacious young pirate in a row boat laden with ritz crackers, beer and candy bar booty. in a matter of seconds, she angles towards us at a furious row until just inches away she releases her oars, surges forward and slips a rope onto our hull. now hitched along for the ride she calls out to we prospective snackers. no one indulges. after a few minutes, she releases us in search of her next customer.

halong bay, which means something along the lines of 'dragon descending into the sea' is an absurdly dramatic setting of 1000 jagged limestone islands in a 1553 square km bay off the gulf of tonkin on viet nams ne coast. its remarkable beauty won it unesco natural world heritage site status. after a day spent exploring a huge cave, picking up trash via kayak and just lounging on the top deck while admiring the view, were spending the night aboard our charming vietnamese junk.

just prior to retiring, however, i couldnt help but take a quick dip in the bays warm bath. as i treaded water, i looked at the fifty of so peaks and 30 wooden junks around me. each boat was illuminated by yellow lights that cast a pretty golden reflection on the calm water. amongst the yellow lights was a single white silhouette of the waxing gibbous moon. ...awww so nice.
more viet nam photos here.