21 May 13
Now onto Halong Bay, the main reason why we travelled to Hanoi. There are day trips or two-days trips to visit Halong Bay though we felt a 3 days 2 nights itinerary suited our preference better. We sailed on the Indochina Sails boat which we booked through Halongsapa Tours.
The drive from Hanoi to Halong took about 4 hours
Couldn’t wait to explore the deck and take in the sights!
Grumpy face but I wasn’t grumpy :>
Activities began after lunch and our first stop was Titop Island. Here’s the view from 200 steps up on a cliff.
Down on the beach and a bummer that it was too chilly to swim
Expect a lot more rocks in part two! Here in real life, I’ll be sharing news about Pomheads tomorrow. It will be ready for sale and I’m so excited!!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, halong bay, kodak 400, nikon FM10, vietnam
13 May 13
This morning, Ben helped me shoot some photos for my upcoming hair pieces. I’ll share them here real soon! Don’t laugh tho when you see me in them, it’s been forever since I’ve been in front of the camera. Those days of ‘wardrobe remix’, you remember those?!
I got all my rolls of film developed almost immediately this time. Our trip to Hanoi, especially Halong Bay, was just terrific. It’s one of those places where no photo can quite capture what is before you. Not even a panoramic photo, yo. But before I post those ‘not-quite-photos’, I’ll start with some of Hanoi, particularly the area known as the Old Quarters.
This is St Joseph’s Cathedral
A slice of Paris in the form of the Paris Cafe (13 Nha Tho Street)
Walking around Hoan Kiem Lake, it was close to evening time so people were out and walking, talking, sitting around
A moment of stillness, while traffic is buzzing around the lake like crazy
This is Ngoc Son Temple, connected to the lake by this red bridge
We didn’t go inside the temple but found this guy outside
Walked on some more to get an idea of what’s around us and what to eat for dinner!
The ubiquitous Vietnamese straw hat
I wrote a list of what to eats too but that made this post way too lengthy. Save that for later, pictures of Halong Bay next!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, agfa vista 400, hanoi, nikon FM10, vietnam
10 Apr 13
Before our guide took us to Maya Bay, our boat stopped here for a bit. According to him, this was where Leonardo Dicaprio’s character in the movie The Beach jumped from the cliff. So click click click went all the cameras.
So our boat pulls into Maya Bay and here’s the view from the beach…
And now here’s the view of the beach while in the water! Immediately this hilarious post by krisatomic came to mind and I had to do my Maya Bay version of it. Humans to beach ratio is way off, sadly.
Still beautiful tho, will have to suss out the less popular islands the next time. Till then, Krabi!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, kodak 400, krabi, maya bay, nikon FM10, thailand
4 Apr 13
On our third day in Krabi, we went on a half day tour to see this emerald pool followed by a natural hot spring. The group of us walked about 800m in the national park and arrived at this!
The emerald pool was beautiful! Like nothing I’ve ever seen. Getting in and out of the pool was treacherous though, gooey algae things all over the rocks. The water nice and cool, soft sand under our feet. I can’t even begin to fathom how something like this exists in the middle of nowhere.
Moving on, we made our way to the hot spring. Also made a friend – we gave him the name Mr Denver Nuggets (the one with the blue towel and hat) – cos duh, he’s from Denver! Anyway I knew I’d regret not asking him for his name or, introducing ourselves… I need to get better at that. I.don’t.know.what.I’m.afraid.of.really.
A hot spring! Once again, in the middle of nowhere!
I’m not sure if you can make it out that people are soaking themselves in these smallish ponds. The water was hot, no shite. It was awesome, out in the open like that. Maybe zap away 10-15 people and it would have been really really awesome.
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, emerald pool, kodak 400, krabi, natural hot spring, nikon FM10, thailand, underwater camera
8 Mar 13
Some snaps using an underwater camera. Our island tour stopped at two spots for snorkelling — Ao Nui Bay and somewhere a little off Maya Bay. It was a gorgeous day, not too much sun, a very effervescent guide and just boundless blue water and cliffs. More pictures of other activities to come.
From one vacation to the next, I’m planning to visit Hanoi in the next few months. Since you guys share great tips the last time round, I’m all ears for anything (really anything would be something) regarding Hanoi! This is one part of the world I’ve never sent foot on before. I’m slightly ashamed that I’ve seen so little of Asia. So between that and the fact that we are saving for our future home, it makes discovering Asia a practical choice.
| Tags: island tour, ko phi phi, krabi, underwater camera
