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We took a day-long tour around Cat Ba Island/Ha Long Bay. This place is ridiculously photogenic. Let me assure my friends, yes, this is still Earth, and yes, it is real. Somehow.
Along the way the guides took us to one of the floating home/floating fish farms. They live in little shacks on the water and keep fish in nets lowered in the water. The guides said there's over 2000 people living this way in the area. Other than being on the water, it looks like any other low-wage village around here, complete with dogs corner stores, etc.
Oh, and it turns out this is the time of year to come! Weather was great and the place was not busy. We had the entire boat to ourselves!
Ha Long Bay, which literally means "descending dragon bay", is UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Vietnam. The Bay belongs to Ha Long City and features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Ha Long Bay covers an area of approximately 1,533 square kilometres including 1,960 to 2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The highest density of these islets (775) is concentrated in an area of 334 square kilometres. It is estimated that this bay has gone through various stages of change over a period of 500 million years.
Our junk, The Dragon's Pearl, is in the foreground. House boats float in the background. The karst (limestone) formations of Ha Long bay provide a magical backdrop. We spent 3 days aboard the junk on Ha Long Bay.