Located northeast of Vietnam, Hạ Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an extremely popular travel destination that you should not miss while visiting Vietnam.
The bay has a 120 kilometres long coastline and is about 1,553 square kilometres in size with 1969 islets.
Featuring thousands of limestone karst and isles in various sizes and shapes, several of the islands are hollow with enormous caves where you can tour to admire the amazing limestone formation.
Another specific feature of Hạ long is the abundance of lakes inside the limestone islands, for example, Dau Be island has six enclosed lakes.
It is no wonder Hạ long is named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature by New 7 Wonders Foundation
I was very fortunate to be part of the celebration for the inauguration of Hạ long as the New 7 Wonders of the Nature thanks to My who got me a ticket to the show a year ago.
The stadium had a portrait of Ho Chi Minh staring at the audience all the time which struck me that Vietnam is still under the communist rule.
Just that Vietnam is really different and pretty liberal as compared to countries like North Korea.
Hạ long at night
It is about a 3 hours car ride from Hanoi to Hạ long and you are basically surrounded by water everywhere you turn.
Hạ Long Bay
There are all kinds of cruises and tours for you to explore the Bay.
For the full experience, you can even stay on board a junk ship for the night as they cruise around the islands.
My friends and I took a day tour on a cruise and visited the famed limestone caves.
It is amazing what nature can do given time…
I kayaked a little while I was there and it was really interesting to see how people adapted to living in the bay.
Sand shoes!
All in all, I had a really relaxing day in Hạ long; enjoying the breeze and frolicking on the beautiful white sandy beach.
Definitely a place to visit again!
Categories: Photo Essay, Vietnam
beautiful reminder
of my visit there
many years ago
thanks