Halong Bay which has been designated as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994 is one of the most beautiful places on earth which abounds with natural beauty. Halong means Bay of the Descending Dragons. The proud Vietnamese are claiming this place as an eight wonder- such is its beauty. This bay is very calm and there are 3000 islands in all shapes and sizes in the bay. Halong Bay is one of the main tourist attractions in Vietnam. The islands in the bay contain grottos and caves which lead to fresh water lakes and amazing and spectacular formation of stalactites and stalagmites inside. Almost any traveler and tourist will make it a point to visit Halong Bay Vietnam at least once in their life!
To reach Halong Bay one has to drive along the Bai Chay beach or scorched beach as it is referred to due to the sands in the beach being dark colored. Once the tourists reach Halong Bay then they can do lots of things here. They would be simply amazed to see spectacular land and seascape around them once they venture out in to the bay on boats. The waters in the bay are so calm and crystal clear that you will want to jump in and go for a swim. You can hire boats both big and small ? such as the Halong Junky or even the Halong Luxury Junky and go on tours to visit the grottos, caves freshwater swamps, and sandy beaches. If you take a tour that lasts you for more than 2 days you get to stay in one of the caves for the night which is really a thrilling experience. It is best that you go on tours in the bay for at least 3 days as this will give you the opportunity of experiencing a night out in the bay in a sail boat which is entirely unique to this region.
The white sandy beaches and calm water around the grottos make for a lovely swimming place. Because the waters are clear you will be able to see the coral reefs clearly too. Virgin Cave and Mid Gate caves are some of the great places to visit and explore as you will surprised to find tunnels deep inside the caves. The stone formations inside all the caves and grottos are very peculiar and resemble animals and plants. The mountains around these caves are great places to go hiking. You can even try your hand at kayaking and snorkeling here. May be you can even do some fishing as the area abounds in fish and sea food varieties.
A Halong cruise is another great thing that Halong Vietnam has to offer for its tourists and guests. Be sure to include a Luxury Halong Bay Cruise or a less heavy Halong Bay Cruise to your itinerary on your package to Halong Bay.
Remember to carry your camera along because you can get some amazing pictures of the natural scenery found abounding here. If you are prepared to paddle then there is no greater way to look around the islands. There are night excursions being arranged for tourists who want to experience the caves and grottos at night. At Halong city there are plenty of shops which sell locally made handicrafts which can be bought and taken back as souvenirs for family and friends. You can even try out some local fare in any of the restaurants here and it will truly be an amazing culinary experience.
Travel in march to Vietnam, 2nd March, Dragged myself out of bed, with Sarah's help, and just made it to the Kangaroo Caf? for 8.30am - I felt like I was dying. You name it, stomach ache, headache, arse ache the works! Slept on the bus most of the way to Ha Long bay, which Sarah was pleased about as it meant I wasn't harping on about how crappy I felt and she could read her book in peace! I managed to force down some dinner en-route, which turned out to be a big mistake - I won't go into detail. We set sail on a boat out of Ha Long city bound for the bay, the scenery here is just stunning. Legend has it a Dragon made the 2000 or so Islands by whipping them out of the sea bed with his tail ? if you believe that you'll believe anything! We visited several caves cut into the limestone by the sea and they really were impressive, some even had resident colonies of bats roosting in the roof. Again, these had been made by Dragons ? however, they must have been out or something when we got there because we didn't see any. This was possibly a good thing as my ?trots? were so bad by this time I doubt I'd have been able to run away anyhow. We cruised the bay all afternoon, there was a low lying mist which really set an atmosphere about the place. By nightfall we'd reached a quiet natural harbour in, we ate on aboard (not me unfortunately ? I was downstairs ramming imodium down my throat!) and then slept on the boat which was really great.
Travel in march to Vietnam, We woke around 7.30 am after a humid night on the boat. I have to admit that we had no problems at all with our berth, but some of the group had actually had rats running over their legs and face during the night! Felt slightly better but I was still having severe stomach pains and the worst headaches I'd ever experienced, I guessed I may be dehydrated so I started eating re-hydration salts by the shovel full and drank everything I could get my hands on. The bay looked great so early in the morning, we had Sea Eagles snatching fish just feet from the boat ? they were awesome to watch. We sailed on to Cat Ba National Park, then onto Cat Dua (Pineapple) Island, it was still quite misty but warm. We rowed to the beach there and found a spot to chill out. Within 10 minutes we were under siege by the monkeys that live on the island. One tried to take a chunk out of my arm but a right hook saw him off. One lady in the group was not so lucky though, as she was being relieved of her nice handbag by the monkeys she resisted and got a nice bite out of her leg ? not pretty. I have to say though, that despite being little sods the monkeys were bloody funny to watch - reminded us of Alfie one of our nephews a little bit! Didn't eat all day today as felt that 24hrs starvation may sort out my guts - fat chance, just made me feel more tired than ever! Met a top guy called Carl from Melbourne Australia. He's kindly invited us to stay if we pass that way later in the year. Carl had traveled just about everywhere years ago when was travelling was hard going ? reminded us both of Uncle Ron a bit. If you're read this Carl, thanks for the offer and we look forward to seeing you later in the year. We finished days sailing back at Cat Ba and spent the night in a nice hotel on dry land. I had a good shower and immediately felt a bit better. Imodium doing great so far - just worried about the Barnes Wallis effect!
4th March, Managed some breakfast and boarded boat, Sarah managed to polish off enough for four people as usual. The sun was shining as we sailed back to Ha Long bay, what a fantastic view. The rock formations are just incredible. Jane, Anna and Jane kept us entertained on the way back, three great ladies who'd done so much travelling it was incredible, we could have listened to them all day. Hello, if you read our journal! We got back travel to Hanoi late, ate as I was feeling a touch better, then headed over to the rail station to catch the overnighter travel to Hue. We shared the cabin with two Vietnamese, a girl and a guy named Binh - neither of whom spoke English. Binh could see that I was suffering and hopped off the train at one of the stations and got me a bottle of water (yeah ? yeah, we know they warn you not to accept gifts from strangers ? but it's OK we're grown ups we can look after ourselves!) how kind is that. Second thoughts maybe he was a bit worried about me leaving a ?Tramps breakfast? on the cabin floor?! Still feel terrible, but at least we're out of Hanoi which is a cool place and en-route to Hue ? let's see what that brings!
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