Halong Bay (Vietnam) is one of the most beautiful places in the region, a national park that is on the UNESCO list. About 3000 islands with beaches and grottoes are scattered over an area of about one and a half thousand square kilometers. Halong Bay has magnificent scenery that simply fascinates everyone who comes here, especially during the hours of dawn and sunset.
Where is Halong Bay?
It is said that the word “halong” translates as ” the place where the dragon descended into the sea.” Probably because the dolomite and limestone rocks sticking out of the water resemble the vertebrae of the giant neck of an ancient lizard. According to legend, the local Snake Gorynych first created Halong Island, and then made a landscape on the shore with his tail. Finally, it sank into the water, and only fragments of land remained on the surface.
Halong Bay is located in the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea. You can get here by minibus or car from the capital of Vietnam — Hanoi (the most convenient starting point for departure). It is about 150-170 kilometers from the city. The journey will take 3-4 hours.
It is better to come to the bay from December to May, when the days are dry and warm. However, in winter it is cool in the bay, about 20 degrees Celsius in the daytime. From August to October is also good, but there are typhoons, and the temperature is kept around 30 degrees. Although Halong Bay is fascinating at any time of the year. Even in the pouring rain, you will make a lot of great photos, and bring with you only the best emotions.
One and a half thousand Vietnamese people live here, whose main income is tourists. Someone rides visitors on stunning sailing ships, someone sells exotic fruits, someone-fish. There are fishing villages here, which also have their own life. It’s hard to believe, but people in Halong Bay buy water (as we have – plots of land), build a raft in their place and so live with their families. By the way, floating villages are always “built” near a spacious cave where you can hide if a typhoon suddenly hits.
Halong-both city and bay
On one of the islands is the city of Halong. There is a huge pier where many majestic ships built in the traditions of Vietnam find their refuge. The city is about 165 km from Hanoi. It is divided into two parts: the eastern, working part, where there are factories and offices, and the western tourist part. Two parts of Halong are connected by a bridge.
As a tourist destination of Vietnam, Halong is a newcomer. Previously, it was known (apart from the bay) only for coal mining. But still, it is not the city that attracts tourists, but the bay itself. The ships are surrounded on all sides by picturesque cliffs. Moreover, when you sail on a ship, depending on the perspective, the islands change their color. The islands are green near by, dark gray in the distance, and silvery on the misty horizon. There is a feeling that there is an alien landscape around.
Now they actively offer excursions around this bay of Vietnam with visits to grottoes, small fishing villages and neighboring islands. On one of the mountains there is a magnificent viewing platform, from where you can take wonderful photos of Halong Bay. On average, the tour lasts 4-5 hours (which will fly by unnoticed) and costs from $ 30 per person.
Halong Bay Activities
Halong Bay is a wonderful place in Vietnam that attracts with its unspoilt nature. Here people live on the waves of the sea, huddle on small pieces of land, in the company of only underwater creatures and wild monkeys. The latter persistently beg for treats from tourists. Here you will surely find something to do.
Sea cruise
Although Halong Bay, as it is called in English, is protected by UNESCO, visitors are still taken to the islands. True, the Vietnamese are quite law-abiding people, so they try to adhere to the rules so as not to harm nature. However, this does not prevent particularly clever sailors from inviting tourists to their outdated ships, luring them with low prices. So don’t accept suspiciously good offers, some ships are simply unsafe.
Halong cruises are available for any budget and, accordingly, service. Usually, the boat ride on the bay also includes food: from rice with potatoes and lecho to the most diverse and refined dishes. The programs on gulf cruises are rich, so you will only have time to sleep in the cabin. From early morning (usually from 6 o’clock) the day is already beginning. Guests are offered a scalding and aromatic Vietnamese coffee with scones and fruit. For those who wish-Tai Chi charging. And, of course, sightseeing.
Local cooks like to conduct master classes. Usually, for example, they offer simple but delicious Vietnamese dishes like spring rolls or nem pancakes.
Picturesque views between the cliffs and cliffs of the bay can be admired even from the cabins. Boats dock at several Halong Bay islands prepared for visitors to arrive. Guides take you to the observation decks, and then to the caves. The grottoes, by the way, are wonderful. There are stalactites and stalagmites everywhere, amazing stone relief and, of course, lighting. Somewhere just a yellow light is on, somewhere colored lamps… in some places a timid ray of sun breaks through from the surface. All together creates the impression of unreality.
One of the entertainment options on a Halong Bay cruise is sure to be fishing. Moreover, they can offer to catch fish or squid even at night. In the dark, the water in the bay is even more beautiful – in some places it glows, and the bay seems truly mysterious.
Halong Bay (Vietnam) is also a place where pearls are grown. During the cruise, you may be invited to visit Pearl House, a pearl factory. Here your ideas about how brave divers, risking their lives, hold their breath and scour the bottom in search of precious shells will collapse. Here, the production of organic jewelry is put on stream.
The factory will tell you about all the stages of production. No one waits years for a shell to naturally build up a layer of mother-of-pearl. The shells are stuffed with blanks-beads made of pressed shells. Then the clam is released on free bread for about a few months, and only then the finished pearl is taken out of it. After such treatment, some shellfish die. In general, the life of these sea creatures can not be called easy – they work hard as hell.
Luon Cave is a lagoon on the territory of Halong Bay (although it is strange: from English. yaz. cave is a cave). It turns out that the lagoon is in a bay. Luon Cave is surrounded on all sides by cliffs, and it is not easy to get there. If you are on a yacht cruise, then the ship anchors to swim into the lagoon. Passengers are loaded onto boats or kayaks and sailed to the pier. From there – on bamboo boats, because you can not go deep into the lagoon on motorboats.
Places where tourists are brought in large numbers are always teeming with enterprising sellers. And even this lagoon, remote from the cities of Vietnam and large routes, was not overlooked by traders. Locals deftly maneuver between the boats on which foreign guests sit, and smartly offer their simple goods: snacks, drinks, fruits, souvenirs.
Interestingly, in exchange for tax breaks and the opportunity to trade seafood, Vietnamese people from floating villages should clean up garbage left by tourists. By the way, when sailing on a ship, be prepared that local merchants can board you. They come up on a boat, cling to the boat hook and climb through the windows with their belongings.
Prices for cruises depend on the duration and conditions on the ship, food, as well as overnight stays (in a cabin or in a hotel on land). So agencies offer one-two-and three-day tours.
- The cheapest one-day cruise from Hanoi can be found for$ 60 per person.
- A two-day tour with an overnight stay on the ship will cost at least$90.
- For a 3-day cruise, you will need to pay at least $ 130, .
Sapa-land of rice terraces, mountains and waterfalls in Vietnam.
Kayaking experience
For those who are ready not just to sit statically on a boat, but to pick up an oar, there is another entertainment – kayaking. Here you will have to make some effort, but the impressions will be even more vivid than when viewing all the charms of the bay from the ship. The most amazing thing is that no one restricts you here. You see a nice grotto-please swim under it, you want to land on the shore of the bay and take a walk at your pleasure-please.
Every Halong rock that looms menacingly over your head can be touched with your hand. If you get hungry, you will probably meet the merchants mentioned above on the way, they will be happy to sell you something to eat.
Halong Beach Holidays
Halong Bay does not have its own natural beaches. Most of them are artificially created, so if you want to go to a wild beach, you will have to look in the vicinity of the bay. The most convenient way to do this search is by kayak. By the way, every island is different. Somewhere you can dive with a mask and fins and look at the bright fish. Somewhere at night, sea fish is perfectly caught. Halong Bay in Vietnam (photos confirm this) is surprisingly diverse and beautiful.
- Catba (a national park of Vietnam) is famous for mangroves, coral reefs, and for a beach holiday it is better to go here too. The infrastructure of the islands does not reach the popular beaches of Vietnam. But the inconvenience is compensated by the pristine nature and crystal clear water. Here, as on many beaches, they offer to relax in a campsite.
- Bai Chai is an island in a bay with a fairly developed infrastructure, although the beach here is not natural. On it, you can have a snack in nice restaurants, take a walk in a nice park or attend a performance in one of the musical theaters. Water skiing and jet skiing can be enjoyed on the beach.
- Tuan Chau Island is famous for its dolphinarium. In addition to a great holiday on the beach (the length of the coastline is three kilometers) and entertainment in the bay, here you can engage in water sports. Rock climbing enthusiasts also come here. Those who prefer to just lie in the shade or settle down in a tent city on the shore will also find a place.
- Ngoc Vung, the “pearl island”, is quite large. On the south coast of Ngoc Vung, you will find the best beach. There you can have a snack in one of several decent eateries. Specialty fish dishes on the island, as well as everywhere else in Halong. The basis for them is a fish caught here by Vietnamese fishermen, which turns out to be on the cook’s table immediately after catching. On the east side of Ngoc Vung, you can see an old fig tree in the middle of the beach. It was under it that Ho Chi Minh stood in 1962 and talked to the local population.
Interesting facts about Halong Bay
A place in Vietnam where tourists from all over the world prefer to spend their holidays every year (about a million a year) already overgrown with a lot of legends, history and just interesting facts. Here are some of them.
- In Halong Bay, Vietnam, they shot Avatar, the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, and the recent film Kong: Skull Island.
- Since the nineteenth century and until relatively recently, coal was mined in Halong Bay, as a result of mining, coal dust and other waste products remained on the shores. All this still harms nature.
- The special shape of the rocks sticking out of the water is explained by their limestone origin. Heavy rains dissolve the limestone. Geologists call it the “tower karst”.
- Hang Dau Go Cave is a “cave of wooden pegs” with a height of 25 meters. From above, a stone waterfall of stalactites froze. But this place is not famous for them, and not for the magnificent natural paintings on the walls of the cave. During the Mongol-Vietnamese war, the locals planed stakes and kept them in this cave during the day, and at night they took them out and stuck them in the sea floor to harm enemy ships.
- The drum cave in Halong has an explicable name. Thanks to the unusual landscape, when the wind is strong, you can hear a sound like a drum roll.
- There are not only houses on the water, but also floating restaurants, schools, playgrounds, markets and even vegetable gardens. Some of the locals even have pets, which also swim for their owners.
- Russians will be interested to know that there is a cape called Titov. He received his name in honor of the cosmonaut from the USSR. Here there is a pier, a beach and a chic observation deck. It takes about ten minutes to walk to the site – you need to conquer three hundred steps.
- At the end of 2011, the global voting for the choice of the 7th wonder of the world ended. Guess which bay won the vote?
Such it is – Halong Bay (Vietnam). Even if you have been there before, you will always want to return to this wonderful world, forget about daily worries. Take a boat ride, sit down with a cup of green tea on the upper deck and just contemplate. It’s like meditating. Represent the hidden dragons that have taken refuge in the bay. And you can do nothing, Halong Bay will do everything for you. It will erase your worries and sorrows, impress you with intricate landscapes… and then you will wake up a wolf’s appetite, and you will eat everything that is served. In the evening, you can wrap yourself up in a blanket and fall asleep sweetly in the cabin, under the sound of quiet waves.