Vietnam TravelTravel Special FeaturesVietnam - A Coastal JourneyHa Long Bay - The Dragon's Bay

Ha Long Bay - The Dragon's Bay

What better place to begin an exploration of Vietnam's coast than Ha Long bay, or "bay where the dragon descends into the sea"? According to legend, this natural wander was formed when a great dragon, which lived in the northern mountains, descended into the sea. As the dragon moved to the coast its tail scoured deep valleys into the rock. These crevasses, it is said, filled with water when the dragon plunged into the sea, creating a landscape of jagged rocky islets, rising above the azure waves.

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994, Ha Long Bay boasts over 2,000 of these jagged island, sprinkled over 1,500 sq km in the Gulf of Tonkin. The romantic myth aside, geologist attribute thee dolomite and Limestone Island to sedimentary limestone, which formed here in the Paleozoic era, between 300 and 500 million years ago. Over the ages, wind, rain and the tides conspired to sculpt these rocky islets into fantastic shapes, their sheer cliffs, winding caverns and jagged spires bringing to mind fairytale castle. King Le Thanh Tong, who visited the bay in 1469, composed a poem comparing the islands to pieces in a chessboard.

Despite the fishing trawlers, tourist boats and pearl farmers that share these emerald waters, the bay retains an atmosphere of untamed mystery. Narrow channels cut between uninhabited islands; the only sounds the lapping of waves on rock and the occasional cry of a sea bird. Sea caves, accessible only by small boat or kayak, wind through thick walls of rock, then open into hidden lagoons.

Other caves are easier to reach. One of the most famous is Hang Dau Go, or Grotto of the Wooden Stakes, a large cave comprised of tree cavern. Visitors are drawn both by the cave's strange stalactites and by its history. It was here the General Tran Hung Dao reputedly hid hundreds of sharp bamboo stakes, which were then planted in the Bach Dang River to impale and destroy the invading forces of Kublai Khan in 1288.

Perhaps the most beautiful cave in Ha Long Bay is Hang Thien Cung, or Grotto of the Heavenly Place. Measuring 250 meters long and 20 meters wide, this cave is studded with incredible stalactites and stalagmites, these sparkling formations now bathed in colored lights.

Away from the tourist sites, the best way to experience the grandeur of Ha Long Bay is by boat. Paddle a kayak through narrow channels, past floating villages, meeting the occasional fisherman in his round, bamboo coracle. The green water glows as if lit from below, while overhead tower the islands, their rocky faces softened by lush vegetation, which clings to the steepest of cliffs.

These islands are home to a remarkable variety of plants, with some species like the blue-flowering Ha Long Chirita and the sweet scented Ha Long Jasmine growing only in Ha Long Bay. Botanists estimate that over one thousand species of flora survive on these small, windswept islands.

In this surreal world of crystal water and sculpted rock, legend and reality overlap. Sailors have long reported sightings of a strange sea creature, known as the Tarasque, which some have compared to the Loch Ness monster. Others suggest it in a sea dragon, the guardian spirit of Ha Long Bay.

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