"Ha Long" is literally translated as "Bay of Descending Dragons."
500 years ago, Nguyen Trai praised the beauty of Ha Long Bay in his verse Lộ nhập Vân Đồn, in which he called it "rock wonder in the sky". In 1962, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam listed Ha Long Bay in the National Relics and Landscapes publication. In 1994, the core zone of Ha Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site according to criteria vii, and listed for a second time according to criteria viii.
We (like most other tourist in Hanoi) visited the bay on an overnight tour aboard a Junk. They take you by bus to Halong City where you board the Junk and cruise out to through the bay where you moor overnight and do various activities including visiting a huge cave, Kayaking and climbing to the top of the one of the larger rocks.
We had a diverse group of great people on our boat from Switzerland, Singapore, America and Vietnam. We were, surprisingly the only Aussies on board. There was good spirit and interesting conversation at mealtimes. The crew on the boat were efficient and friendly and the whole thing was really well put together.
It was a great tour and an amazingly beautiful place. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
Tomorrow we get ourselves organised to leave as we fly out to Thailand Monday morning.
More Photos in large format here.
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