On the way to Halong Bay- Vietnam.

My destination and grande finale was Halong Bay situated in the northeast of Vietnam. It’s a stunning World Heritage site with a landscape of towering limestone islands and emerald waters.

Halong means ‘where the dragon descends into the sea’, and according to legend the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon from the mountains. It charged towards the coast and its massive tail slashed the landscape and gouged out valleys and crevasses. It plunged into the ocean and the area filled with water, leaving only the pinnacles visible.

However as this challenge suggests sometimes the “in between moments” leading to  the final destination are just as memorable. These photos are from 2003, some 12 years ago and several cameras back, but I still have vivid memories of the road trip to the bay and especially the people. So without a single shot of Halong Bay please enjoy some of my “on the way” memories

I was in a mini bus with an fun group of new travelling companions and we saw this lady pedaling towards us.  I believe they are some kind of fish trap, maybe eel traps?

We stopped at a roadside stall and this girl was in the paddy across the way. I remember buying art work at this stall which I now have framed at home in New Zealand. It is a print of a wee guy on the back of a water buffalo.

At Cat Ba town.   This was where we boarded our boat for our 2 night 3 day cruise around Halong Bay. These young lads put on  quite a puppy rough and tumble act for us but were obviously best mates. They manage to sell me a popular toy, kind of like the Vietnamese version of Hacky Sack. It is like a long feathered shuttle cock that you kick up and try and keep in the air. They call it Da Cau and make it look easy! Good fun actually!

I had such a great trip with lovely people I ended up changing my travel plans and doing a Sapa Trek with my Halong Bay travel mates rather than visiting Laos. That is still on the hit list, as too are posts about Halong Bay and trekking in Sapa.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “On the Way.”

I look forward to these challenges every week. Here are a my past efforts. Thank you Daily Post!

Broken  Enveloped  Intricate  Motion Early Bird Blur  Aloat

Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu

Leanne