Ha Long Bay: Natural inspiration for countless movies, art and legends

Ha Long means 'descending dragon', referring to the legend of a dragon that the Jade Emperor called upon to protect the Vietnamese people from invaders. The dragon spat jewels and jade into the sea, which rose up as rocky islands and formed a barrier to block the enemy ships.

In Ha Long bay, we took an overnight cruise with Peony Cruises. The cruise was surprisingly luxurious, with a spacious cabin and bathroom, including a freestanding bath overlooking the bay. Up on top deck we enjoyed cocktail happy hour, a cooking demonstration, an early morning Tai Chi class and the pool.

The warm lighting around the boat's top deck, along with the vibrant pink Thai Bougainvillea flowers that we've seen growing everywhere in Vietnam, made for a great portrait opportunity.

We took an excursion off the boat to explore Cat Ba island and the famous Trung Trang Cave, which our guide explained was used by the Viet Cong soldiers during the war against the US as it was so well hidden. A highlight of the cave was this spooky rock formation that resembled a human enrobed in limestone, which is worshipped with candles and incense burning.

Outside the cave we came face to face with nature when we encountered this huge spider, poised in the centre of its web. It was probably about 10cm across. I took a photo straight on but my wife (secretly my director of photography) suggested I try a photo from the side to capture the shape of its legs and its web, which turned out much more interesting.

Back on the boat, while Ha Long bay was mostly shrouded in clouds, we did catch a few moments of clear sky, making for a dramatic sunset.

When I thought my day of photography was over, long after sunset, I noticed that the light pollution from the city was enough to illuminate the clouds and bring out the islands as silhouettes. Combined with passing fog and a long exposure, this made for a photo that I felt gave a unique perspective to the much-photographed bay.

Our time in Ha Long bay was short, but the cruise packed in a lot of activities while allowing enough time to capture some fun pictures of the iconic landscape. The only thing that could have improved our time there would have been bright blue skies!

If you've liked my pictures of Ha Long Bay, make sure to check out my other blog posts and sign up to the mailing list below to get notified when I publish new posts. Head over to the "Get in Touch" page if you have any questions or comments!