Halong Bay – Karsts, Kayaking and Karaoke
Sunday, March 11th, 2007Halong Bay was our last stop in Vietnam, and yet another UNESCO world heritage centre, this time natural rather than cultural or historic.
A tour bus took us the 165km from Hanoi to the bay. Halong is one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations and a natural wonder of the world – often touted as the eight wonder by proud Vietnamese.
The bay is situated in the Gulf Of Tonkin and consists of a dense cluster of nearly 2000 limestone monoliths, pillars, islands and tiny islets, which rise spectacularly from the ocean and are topped with lush, verdant jungle vegetation.
It is a stunning seascape, providing one of the locales for the James Bond film ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. The limestone formations are range from the bizarre to the awesome. Many have corroded bases and appear to float on thin air. Others are unsually shaped, resembling animals, people or structures, such as Choi Islet (fighting cock), Voi Islet (elephant) and Mai Nha Islet (roof).
We were booked onto a three day, two night tour.
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andrewlegon