Ha Long Bay, North Vietnam

October 4, 2008 at 4:50 am Leave a comment

Ha Long Bay is one of the world’s natural wonders and is the most beautiful tourist destination of Vietnam. Ha Long Bay features more than one thousand awesome limestone karsts and islands of various sizes and shapes along the 120-km coastline of Bai Chay Beach.

Its waters are host to a great ersity of ecosystems including offshore coral reefs, freshwater swamp forests, mangrove forests, small freshwater lakes, and sandy beaches. The folk tale has it that the dragons descended from heaven to help locals by spitting jewels and jade to the sea, forming a natural fortress against invaders; these precious stones are represented by the lush green outcrops. Several islands boast beautiful grottos and caves with contiguous chambers, hden ponds and peculiar stone formations. The bay is about 170 kilometers northeast of Hanoi and 3,5 hours by road.