The Travel Diaries: Halong Bay

After seeing some of the amazing sites of Ninh Binh, it was time to take to the seas and discover Halong Bay, or 'descending dragon bay'.  Legend has it that many years ago, the Gods sent a family of dragons to the Vietnamese people to help them defend Vietnam from invaders. These dragons spat many precocious jewels into the ocean and where these landed, great islands rose, forming a natural wall against the invaders who then became shipwrecked upon the rocks. The mother dragon decided to stay among the islands and so descended into the bay, which was then named 'Ha Long' Bay after her.

Halong Bay certainly looked magical. Everywhere you look, great sheer towers of limestone rise out of the water, covered in thick green vegetation. We took a boat trip from Ha Long City to see the islands close up and to visit the caves which tunnel through the rock formations.

We took a kayak to get a closer look at one of the islands. We paddled our way through a low rock tunnel, emerging into a hidden bay, surrounded by more sheer limestone cliffs. The scenery really was breathtaking!

We also delved into a huge cave network which bored through one of the islands. The rock formations were beautifully lit up by multicoloured lights, making the cave feel completely mystical!

Jossi and I both really enjoyed the boat trip. It was amazing to Halong Bay first hand and not just as a picture in a book. It was one of the places I had been looking forwards to visiting the most and the image I had held in my head of Vietnam while we'd been planning our trip.

However, a word of warning! The boat trips are great, but watch out for being ripped off when it comes to drinks! These were offered around as if free, but everyone was billed at the end of the trip! Bit of a nasty shock to everyone on board and the only downer on what had been an amazing trip.