Relaxing on a junk, watching the sun rise over Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

This has to be a great memory of quite possibly one of the most relaxing mornings I’ve ever had. Partly because I had no choice–my destination was controlled by the ship’s captain–and partly because it’s such a relaxing way to start the day.

Besides the quiet rumble of the motor (and other nearby motors) it was nearly silent and everyone on deck was enjoying the sunrise. A really great morning.

One of the hundreds of islands at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Taken while cruising along in a junk.

Ha Long Bay is the single reason I decided I wanted to go to Vietnam. I must have seen it on Getaway or some such show, and as soon as I saw it I realised I wanted to go there. It took a long time to convince Justine that she wanted to visit Vietnam as well; given that she thought it was populated by guerrillas waging war in dense jungle (or possibly just a dive) I can understand her reluctance.

This was taken shortly after we arrived, from over the bow of the junk on which we stayed. I really like the way the anchor was skimming along the surface of the water in this shot, but given the way the boat is, I couldn’t actually see it until I had already taken the shot.

I attempted a few and this is my favourite; the water is just blurred enough to convey what is happening but clear enough to look like water.

A villager on the Tonle Sap lake, Cambodia. Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in south east Asia, the flow changes direction twice a year.

This was taken just as we were pulling up to a floating shop (behind the man in centre of shot) where we bought some school supplies and donated them to a nearby school.

I only had one shot at this photo and didn’t quite nail what I wanted; I didn’t want his hand right in front of his face, but since his eyes are not totally obscured I’m still happy enough with it. Makes it a bit easier to see what he’s doing with his hands as well which makes it obvious what he’s doing (or at least I hope it does!).

Day Six – Nov 6th 2008
Floating in the middle of Ha Long Bay, near island #690, on a junk
21:48

We woke early again to our alarm, went downstairs and ate our breakfast. At our table were a father and son from Hawaii (dad) and Denver (son) who were leaving for home today. They told us of their 20-hour train ride to Sa Pa, where the train was pushing the water along, as it’d flooded recently.

Part way through breakfast, a young lady asked us to please hurry up. It turns out our pickup time was 7:50 and not the 8:30 we’d been told. We stuffed the food into our mouths, ascended the 95-plus stairs, grabbed our stuff and rushed back down. We hopped into the mini van and prepared for our 3-hour ride. The carpet roof in the mini van was shrink wrapped.

As many of the roads along the trip are two lane, we frequently found ourselves stuck behind a large truck which itself was often stuck behind another truck. Our drive was on the wrong side of the road, on the horn (and mobile phone) the whole time. We also saw many motorbikes with caged or tied down animals: chickens, dogs, pigs – all alive and squished together.

A short stop at a roadside souvenir place (not our choice) and we bought a couple of embroidered pictures. Again we were the last in the van. I think we pissed them off.

Luckily, we were also the first off the van, and none of the other passengers were coming on our boat. Another short wait and a short boat ride and we were on our junk.

Our room had two single beds pushed together, but the look and feel of the whole boat is French Indochina meets Asia. It’s quite pretty.

Lunch was served in the dining room. It consisted of something like eight courses – prawns, calamari, soup, grilled fish, stir fry and more—and when finally dinner came we could barely bring ourselves to eat.

We sailed—potterred, rather—amongst the island, making our way to the first destination of the tour. The people on the boat are quite varied. One lady was wearing a souvenir shirt as her luggage was still in Bangkok.

The rocks and islands here jut straight out of the water. The go as high as an eight or ten storey building. It is an impressive and beautiful sight and as we float along, new views reveal themselves. All are as wonderful as the last. The trees and other plants clawing for life on the grey rocks add some greenery to a drab vista. It is so misty and hazy in some parts the greenery is not noticeable.

The first destination was either Ti Top or Soi Sim island, I didn’t check [Note: it was Ti Top Island]. We climbed hundreds of stairs to the top, hearts racing. The view was worth the effort, it’s about the highest point around. Back down the bottom, at the beach, I swam in the bay while Justine stayed just in the water, up to her ankles. The water was refreshing.

Back on the junk, we visited a fishing village on the water. Unlike the Cambodian ones, these are houses on pontoon style floating things. For power they use diesel generators here instead of car and truck batteries as in Cambodia.

The last destination was a ride in a small rickety bamboo boat. We floated near Cat Ba island and through a “cave” underneath one of the islands next to Cat Ba. The silence here was amazing, if the French couple could keep quiet for 30 seconds.

We lay on deck under the stars, which are very bright out here. Even in so remote a place we still have mobile reception.

Dinner was another six courses and we could barely bring ourselves to finish one, let alone all six. More seafood again, most was great. I had a glass of Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve. Nice.

Photos taken today: 417
Photos taken to date: 2157

Boats moored in Barcelona, Spain.

At one end of the famous Las Ramblas is one of Barcelona’s port areas. A high-end shopping centre is now where what may once have been loading docks.

Instead, there are now many boats moored for purposes of pleasure rather than commerce. Behind where this photo is looking is still used for large ships, but they are cruise liners and ferries.

At night, the water is lit by nearby lights and one can see thousands of fish swimming near the surface.

A boat sails into the sunset at Marseille, in the south of France.

Marseille has such beautiful sunsets that it’s difficult not to get a great photo. It’s such an interesting place, too. You can almost see Africa from here, as it’s just across the sea (maybe on a clear day you could, but I doubt it).

There are a lot of African people here, giving it a really different feel to the rest of France. Marseille is over 2600 years old and was originally a Greek port. It’s also where the Count of Monte Cristo is set.

A tugboat intimidates a much larger boat south of Melbourne.

Taken during a photowalk with Trav, Stephan, Dad and I. This is the first time Stephan and Trav have made it out for one of the regular monthly photowalks; I think it’s actually the first time I’ve been on a photowalk with Stephan at all (excluding the times we went to the car show in high school!)

The more the merrier and it’s great to have an opportunity to go out and take photos as sometimes it can be hard to work up the motivation on your own.