Nothing quite prepares you for the sheer beauty of Halong Bay in North Vietnam.
It’s a common backdrop for movies set in Vietnam, but no matter how many photographs you have seen or films you have watched, its beauty still catches you unaware.
It is not until you are on the bay in a boat or better still, floating in the emerald green waters, looking up at the awesome limestone karsts and islands, that you truly appreciate these wonders.
There are more than 3,000 islands rising from the clear waters of the Gulf of Tonkin and stretching along the 120-kilometre coastline of Bai Chay Beach, right up to the Chinese border.
The main town in the region is Halong City, which is bisected by a bay. Bai Chay, the western part, is the more scenic and has the most hotels, restaurants and touts – there are also casinos, an artificial beach and resorts.
Hon Gai in the eastern part is connected by the enormous Bai Chay Bridge. It is a major industrial port for Northern Vietnam and really just a stopping off point to visit Halong Bay.
To get there from Hanoi, it’s about a three-hour drive through the countryside where Vietnamese farmers work in the rice paddies and tend their water buffalo.
It is a busy port with lots of fishing and tourism boats competing for business. The dragon-faced boats offer both shorter and longer cruises to see the craggy islands that tower into the skies, topped with lush vegetation and overhanging rocks.
There are many caves and grottoes and boats stop at various spots around the bay. The most impressive of the grottoes is the Hang Dau Go, a huge cave of three chambers while the Thien Cung Caves are also worth a look.
If you swim at night, you’ll gather small fluorescent shrimps on your body that literally make you glow in the dark.
A quaint Vietnamese fable about the creation of Halong Bay captures the romance and spirituality of the place. It states that the Gods, seeing an invading foreign force approaching the bay, sent down a dragon to drive off the invaders and protect the local people. The dragon smashed up the rocks around the bay with its flailing tail and stopped the attack leaving behind thousands of rocky islands and outcrops strewn across the bay.
If you are not into myths, science will tell you the limestone and dolomite karsts were created by the dual powers of wind and seawater eroding the rock over millions of years.
As you near the shores of Halong Bay, take one long last look at the pretty islands often partly shrouded in mist. If you look hard enough, you may just make out the spine of the dragon, jutting from the emerald seas – like those legends say.
It is a wonderful sight that leaves you wishing you could spend longer.
