A string of visitors disembark from pleasure craft on Ba Bể Lake. Such organised lines usually indicate Chinese or Vietnamese tourists
The
last page
had photographs which showed some of the local people and their boats on the lake - Vietnam's largest stretch of natural water. This page has more of
Ba Bể Lake's
scenery, as well as some images of visitors to
the National Park
which includes the Hua Mã caves just to the south of the lake. The untouched jungle running down to the shores of Ba Bể Lake make a perfect setting within which visitors can relax - often with a cooling beer.
...being a National Park the trees are well protected and grow to ages not normally seen in Vietnam
Two shots to show something of the dense jungle which tumbles down to the lake...
Cascades on one of the lake's feeder rivers
Given both high rainfall and temperatures,
epiphytes flourish;
every available surface supports life
The pools and rocks provide shelter for the fish, becoming bait for fishermen
One of the tourist launches on the still water as evening descends and the light fades from the lake
A snowstorm of blossom on the beach where the launches, that tour the lake, are berthed
A
launch
purposefully making its way up the lake; these tourists have their bikes on board
Shoes on to walk up to the cascades
Ba Bể Lake and
the karst hills
around
Everything from clumps of bamboos like these...
...to large older trees like these, are able to flourish in the
protection of the National Park.
In unprotected parts of Vietnam there are few trees of any size, most having been cut for firewood at a time in the country's history when such resources were sorely needed
Relaxation on the lake. However the 100 feet of water below...
...means others prefer a beer on this small islet...
...the islet is here seen from the other side towards sunset
Tree roots, on that islet, finding their way past the rock and into the soil below it
The Hua Mã caves,
six kilometres to the south of Ba Bể Lake have only recently been opened up to the public and are pleasantly under-developed. There are also another set of more visited caves (Động Puông) to the north of the lake
Some of the sculptures, including...
...stalactites and stalagmites, created within the caves
Two shots of different forms of relaxation, on the lake, and on a veranda by the lake
And in the evening, back at the restaurant by the lake,
a Hà Nội beer or two
against the background of the hills
The next page
takes you to the island of Æðey, in the far north-west of Iceland, it is only a little larger than the one on this page, but otherwise as different as possible from it. Æðey (or Eidey as in the duck) is near the Arctic Circle, rarely visited, and home to Eider ducks, Tysties, and these remarkable diminutive ducks - Red-necked Phalaropes.
The last page had images of Ba Bể Lake and its boats
To a National Park in Iceland - Thingvellir
A much visited Scottish water - St Mary's Loch
