Whilst driving between Halong Bay and Hanoi we stopped at a stone and marble carving center where you could spend a couple of thousand dollars to purchase an intricately carved marble statue. I resisted the temptation but did take the opportunity to get a few snaps of the masons at work… One of the more amusing things that was pointed out to me was a poster depicting happy customers from around the world, with their address and phone number pinned to a wall… I’m not sure having paid tens of thousands of dollars I would want it broadcast to the world in this way… But apparently a common introductory question in Vietnam is to ask how much you earn…

The difference between the chaos of the workshop here, and the organised display of the finished statues across the yard was quite striking.

A scene of some of the finished statues. The level of detail in these intricately carved statues was stunning.

First view of Harlong Bay rocks up close

Halong Bay was one of the places I had always wanted to go, added to that, I love Asian food and the landscapes, so a trip to Vietnam was a no-brainer. Of course all the photographs I had seen where with blistering blue skies and turquoise water. The water in Halong Bay was indeed some of the warmest water I had ever felt but the air temperature was freezing, okay, it was more like 15 degrees c, but with the wind chill and rain on a drafty old boat it felt a lot colder. None the less, seeing the rocks rising up through the mist in the bay was a stunning sight. The weather can be pretty unpredictable and can also remain unchanged for days at a time so it is something worth bearing in mind if anyone else is planning a trip there. As it was I was only on a boat for one short day, so I just had to make the most of it. There are options to stay on a boat for several days and visit some more of the thousands of tiny rock outcrops.

Floating village of Halong Bay

Canoeing though Halong Bay

Artifically lit caves in Halong Bay

Jungle surronding the cave entrance

View out towards Halong Bay

The boat crew’s essentials

The construction of the new sea port and ferry terminal

View from my hotel out towards Halong Bay

In amongst the beautiful bay there is also an active harbour

Prior to a tunnel through the mountain being built the mountain pass between Hoi An and Hue was the main way to get to Nothern Vietnam, so the Americans built heavy battlements on top of the hill. The mountain pass is free whereas the tunnel is a toll so a lot of locals still have to ride up the steep twisting slopes in all weathers on their tiny motorbikes.

Shops perchecd in the clouds

Cattle in the road

Hotel room view in Hue

Next I was off on another sleeper train to the famous Harlong bay.

On arrival in Hue the heavens opened and it was really raining hard, but with the addition of a rather smelly local poncho we were on our way round the back streets of Hue on the back of motorbikes. I was dubious at first being driven around, rather than driving myself but it gives you the opportunity to look around and take photos whilst going through streets and paths you couldn’t have in a car.

Rain coats on

Riding in the rain

Riding through a graveyard…

A pig is roasted at the road side

As it was raining pretty hard and I was hanging off the back of a motorbike I used my compact Canon S100 for all these shots, it’s a pretty reasonable camera in the daylight.

Alongside with the very beautiful old quarter I posted previously there is also a beach outside Hoi An. I only visited the section closest to town but it was quite a strange experience, the place seemed to have an abandoned feel about it and was fairly dirty with large scale tidal defenses apparently rapidly put in place.

Bags of sand strewn across the beach

Water defences

Fisherman going down river at sunset

On leaving the beach and returning to the town in the hope of catching the river at sunset I was quickly greeted with a much more picturesc scene from a very rickety feeling road bridge which shook as the huge tourist buses rumbled by inches away.

The best way to get around Hoi An is by bike. This was on the way back from the beach at sunset

Cycling past palm trees

The scene outside a restaurant looking onto the river

Chicken and pork skewers on the street

That evening we ate a street food restaurant. The food was a sort of fried pancake you would fill with a meat skewer, vegetables and a spring roll.

Flames used to cook street food

Street cafe

A woman smokes a cigerette on a street corner

A small shop

Colourful street laterns

More colourful street laterns

Smoking sheshia