Ha Long Bay, early morning

We stayed in Ha Long for two nights at the end of a trip to Vietnam. The karsts - those 'standing stones' half immersed in the sometimes very shallow waters of the Gulf of Tonkin - gripped me as they no doubt did the many others who saw them.

Hoping for a moment alone with them far from the madding crowd, I rose early and took my camera to the upper deck. This was the reward. At times like this, I found this most spectacular natural phenomena deeply satisfying. Soon the smells of breakfast replaced the damp cold mist and I could hear feet shuffle on dark stairs below.