Dream landscapes in Ha-long bay
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009Ha-long bay is one of the most spectacular landscapes of South Asia. Mysterious and reminiscent, with more than 3.000 islands, it constitutes a natural landscape wrapped in a permanent fog, which makes its own universe.
Going to Vietnam without seeing the Ha-long Bay means doing only half of the travel, missing the most important. Travel agencies from this Asiatic country know it; that is why there is a whole touristic architecture organized in Vietnam, which offers excursions at an economic price.
The Ha-long Bay declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and in 2000, and has always been in the top 10 of more than 200 exceptional sites doing the competition.
We always tend to compare while visiting a place for the first time. Those who have already been in Thailand or China might find some similarities.
The best way to visit this bunch of islands is to go for a cruise. If you try to go on your own, the cost will be higher; first because you will have to go to Ha-long city (a place without much interest); from there, you can catch a boat or look for other tourist to share it. In these two cases, you will get more freedom but the cost will be higher than going in a few days tour.
Due to the competition of travel agencies, prices are also very competitive. You still had better to check agency reliability. You can find a two days cruise, with transport from Hanoi, for about 30 Euros.
The best views are for sunset time and sunrise time which makes cruises a success, as you sleep on a boat.
The dragon legend
” Once upon a time, soon after the Việt people established their country, invaders came. The Jade Emperor sent Mother Dragon and her Child Dragons down to earth to help the Việt people fight against their enemy. Right at the time invaders’ boats were rushing to the shore, the dragons landed down on earth. The dragons immediately sent out from their mouths a lot of pearls, which then turned into thousands of stone islands emerging in the sea like great walls challenging the invaders’ boats. The fast boats couldn’t manage to stop and crashed into the islands and into each other and broke into pieces.
After the victory, Mother Dragon and Child Dragons didn’t return Heaven but stayed on earth at the place where the battle had occurred. The location Mother Dragon landed is nowadays Hạ Long Bay and where Child Dragons descended is now Bái Tử Long. The dragons’ tails waving the water created Long Vĩ (present Trà Cổ peninsula) and formed a fine sand beach over ten kilometers long”.