Sara Rosso of HQ WordPress wants us to go in search of the “Big Pucker Up” — the KISS — for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge.
I immediately thought of the scene from Godfather II where Michael lays the “Kiss of Death” on his older brother Alfredo at that New Year’s Eve party down in Old Havana just before Fidel Castro, in his camouflaged ’56 Chevy, arrived. But, I dashed that image immediately.
Then I remembered a view I had seen almost ten years ago, when digital cameras weren’t what they are today. I took a flashlight and stepped down into The Palladian Traveler’s dusty archives, looked in a file labeled “V” and found what I was looking for.
A pair of “limestone lovers,” standing side-by-side, all alone out in the water — The Kissing Rocks of Ha Long Bay.
The Kissing Rocks are just a sampling of the natural beauty that exists around Ha Long Bay (Descending Dragon Bay), located in northeastern Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, and, since 1994, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ha Long Bay consists of a dense archipelago of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands formed some 500-million years ago.
Each island — some are just oversized rocks, like Burt and Deborah over there (Lancaster and Kerr in From Here to Eternity) — each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves.
Local legend has it that long ago, when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land.
This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders.
I apologize in advance for the photos you are about to see, but, in order to make them presentable I had to give them all sepia tones to hide the marginal quality.
Enjoy the pair of “limestone lovers” and the short cruise around their wet and wide “love nest.”
©The Palladian Traveler | ©Tom Palladio Images
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The Palladian Traveler 
This is a great entry for kissing. Thanks.
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Thanks Pat! Glad you enjoyed my rocky “pucker up.”
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Photo number 1 – be still my heart! 🙂
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A fan of the Godfather trilogy, I see. Drop the gun, take the cannoli and give me a kiss! 🙂
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The fact that you knew exactly where to go to find these in your archives is amazing. These photos are so wonderful. Love the slide show and music you created to go with them.
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Emily – Actually, the dusty archives are a couple of portable hard drives that are well categorized so searching is a breeze. Thanks again for the “thumbs up.”
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Great post, gorgeous photography! And I ove the stories and histories you include.
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Naomi. Then I won’t change a thing. Thanks for viewing/reading and commenting.
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Wow, kissing rocks huh? That is interesting.. 🙂
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Zen – That’s what those two rocks are known as. Thanks for viewing/reading and commenting.
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One of my favorite places ever! They actually made my post this week 🙂
Thanks for the lovely reminder Tom
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Tina – How serendipitous. I like your blue haze over Ha Long Bay frame very, very much.
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I visited Ha Long Bay about 5 years ago and loved it!!! I really enjoyed the overnight boat ride and my stay in Hanoi allowed me to try so many good food!!!
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Well, glad you enjoyed your stay in North Vietnam. I, too, had a great time and the food up there was fantastic. No comment about my little sepia video of HL Bay?
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Oh the video is really great as all your videos are. You always have the perfect balance of everything 🙂
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