a few months ago, we went on a five-day tour around vietnam. the trip was initiated and supported by turkish airlines. from istanbul, they fly into ho chi minh city, landing just in time for the new arrivals to the watch the city’s nightlife blossom. the first installment of our tripartite story takes us to ha long bay…

on board our boat, our journey takes us into ha long bay. as far as they eye can see, thick fog caresses the bay’s green water and its massive formations of limestone, which pass by silently as we continue our journey. as an old vietnamese legend has it, ha long bay was formed by a dragon. trying to dive, it cut deep furrows into the land, which the ocean soon flooded.

after having anchored, we enter a kayak to discover the bizarre landscape upclose, passing porous rocks, moving across black caves into blue lagoons, tiny colorful villages sticking to the massive walls of the karst. in the face of this unreal beauty, we feel incredibly small.

later that day, the light changes. the mountains disappear into darkness, and all across the water boats light up. looking at them from our cabin, we wonder: how might it all look in the morning?

all photography by nora römer.