HALONG BAY - VIETNAM

Halong Bay, the World Natural Heritage, includes some 1,600 islands and islets in the Tonkin Gulf. Viewed from above, Halong Bay looks like an extremely vivid huge drawing. This is a wonderful and skilful masterpiece of the Creation and of nature that turns thousands of dumb soulless stone islands into fantastic sculptural and artistic works of various graceful shapes, both familiar and strange to human beings. Thousands of islands emerging uneven in the fanciful waves look strong and magnificent but also mild and vivid...

Wherever you come from, whosoever you are and however old you are, you will certainly experience the same emotion and feeling when admiring this wonder of stone and water. And great experiences will always remain even when you leave the place. Travel to Halong to admire and explore its outstanding scenic beauty.

We do hope you will enjoy your trips to Halong Bay.

Cat Ba Island

Cat Ba is the largest island in Halong Bay . The island has a few fishing villages and a small town. On the east side of the island you will find Lan Ha Bay which has numerous beaches and excellent scenery. There are two white sand beaches (Cat Co 1 and Cat Co 2) located 1km from Cat Ba town. The two beaches are connected by a wooden walkway about 700 metres long. Cat Ba National Park occupies a large area of the island and is well worth a visit especially if you enjoy hiking.

The best time to visit Cat Ba is during October and November. Temperatures are a little cool from December to February, and you can expect rain during March and April. June through to August is hot and humid.

Lan Ha Bay

Lan Ha Bay, off the east side of Cat Ba Island, is especially scenic and offer numerous beaches. Lan Ha Bay, which is situated between Cat Ba Island and Ha Long Bay, is ideal place for sea kayaking and camping.

Bai Tu Long Bay

Just next to the world famous Ha Long Bay, a world natural heritage, Bai Tu Long Bay is not any the less beautiful with hundreds of islets rising from the clear water and long and smooth sand banks.

About 200 kilometres away from Ha Noi, Bai Tu Long Bay is also home to a national park with a primitive forest and hundreds of species of plants and animals, many of which have been listed as rare and precious.

The park is some 60km away from Bai Chay Beach. Tourists can reach the park by road or more romantically by speedboat from Bai Chay Beach.

The northern province of Quang Ninh has turned Bai Tu Long Bay into an eco-tourist site with various choices of tours to visitors.

After admiring the beauty of the limestone rocks in numerous interesting shapes and discovering deep caves or mangrove forests by boat, visitors still have much more to see on Van Don, Minh Chau, and Quan Lan islands or at the shores. Van Don Port, built in 1149, used to be a busy place for trade and cultural exchange between Viet Nam and Thailand, China and Japan for five centuries.

Meanwhile, Cua Ong temple is one of the most sacred places in the northeastern region where a national hero and his family are worshipped. The temple is built in the middle of the mountains, facing Bai Tu Long Bay.

Visitors can choose to stay overnight in stilted houses at the shore to enjoy fresh seafood and local specialties.

They can also go through thick forests to reach the village of ethnic minority groups and be their guests.