Hạ Long Bay
Hạ Long Bay (literally: "descending dragon bay") is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Long City, Cẩm Phả town, and is a part of Vân Đồn District. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes. Hạ Long Bay is a center of a larger zone which includes Bái Tử Long Bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà Island to the southwest. These larger zones share a similar geological, geographical, geomorphological, climate and cultural characters.
Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2, including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km2 with a high density of 775 islets.[1] The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The evolution of the karst in this bay has taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate.[2] The geo-diversity of the environment in the area has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea shore biosystem.[3] Hạ Long Bay is home to 14 endemic floral species[4] and 60 endemic faunal species.[5]
Historical research surveys have shown the presence of prehistorical human beings in this area tens of thousands years ago. The successive ancient cultures are the Soi Nhụ culture around 18,000–7000 BC, the Cái Bèo culture 7000–5000 BC[6] and the Hạ Long culture 5,000–3,500 years ago. Hạ Long Bay also marked important events in the history of Vietnam with many artifacts found in Bài Thơ Mount, Đầu Gỗ Cave, Bãi Cháy.
500 years ago, Nguyễn Trãi praised the beauty of Hạ Long Bay in his verse Lộ nhập Vân Đồn, in which he called it "rock wonder in the sky".[8] In 1962, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of North Vietnam listed Hạ Long Bay in the National Relics and Landscapes publication.[9] In 1994, the core zone of Hạ Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site according to criterion vii, and listed for a second time according to criterion viii.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2, including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km2 with a high density of 775 islets.[1] The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The evolution of the karst in this bay has taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate.[2] The geo-diversity of the environment in the area has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea shore biosystem.[3] Hạ Long Bay is home to 14 endemic floral species[4] and 60 endemic faunal species.[5]
Historical research surveys have shown the presence of prehistorical human beings in this area tens of thousands years ago. The successive ancient cultures are the Soi Nhụ culture around 18,000–7000 BC, the Cái Bèo culture 7000–5000 BC[6] and the Hạ Long culture 5,000–3,500 years ago. Hạ Long Bay also marked important events in the history of Vietnam with many artifacts found in Bài Thơ Mount, Đầu Gỗ Cave, Bãi Cháy.
500 years ago, Nguyễn Trãi praised the beauty of Hạ Long Bay in his verse Lộ nhập Vân Đồn, in which he called it "rock wonder in the sky".[8] In 1962, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of North Vietnam listed Hạ Long Bay in the National Relics and Landscapes publication.[9] In 1994, the core zone of Hạ Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site according to criterion vii, and listed for a second time according to criterion viii.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
General Scenes of Ha Long Bay
Caves in Halong Bay
Within Ha Long Bay, the main accessible caves are the older passages that survive from the time when the karst was evolving though its various stages of fengcong and fenglin. Three main types of caves can be recognized in the limestone islands (Waltham, T. 1998):
The second group of caves is the old karstic foot caves which include Trinh Lu, Bo Nau, Tien Ong and Trong caves. Foot caves are a ubiquitous feature of karst landscapes which have reached a stage of widespread lateral undercutting at base level. They may extend back into maze caves of stream caves draining from larger cave systems within the limestone. They are distinguished by the main elements of their passages being close to the horizontal and are commonly related to denuded or accumulated terraces at the old base levels. Trinh Nu, which is one of the larger foot caves in Ha Long Bay with its ceiling at about 12m above sea level and about 80m in length, was developed in multiple stages. Bo Nau, a horizontal cave containing old stalactite deposits, cuts across the 25o dip of the bedding plane.
The third group is the marine notch caves that are a special feature of the karst of Ha Long Bay. The dissolution process of sea water acting on the limestone and erosion by wave action crates notches at the base of the cliffs. In advantageous conditions, dissolution of the limestone allows the cliff notches to be steadily deepened and extended into caves. Many of these at sea level extend right though the limestone hills into drowned dolines which are now tidal lakes.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
- Remnants of old phreatic caves
- Old karstic foot caves
- Marine notch caves
The second group of caves is the old karstic foot caves which include Trinh Lu, Bo Nau, Tien Ong and Trong caves. Foot caves are a ubiquitous feature of karst landscapes which have reached a stage of widespread lateral undercutting at base level. They may extend back into maze caves of stream caves draining from larger cave systems within the limestone. They are distinguished by the main elements of their passages being close to the horizontal and are commonly related to denuded or accumulated terraces at the old base levels. Trinh Nu, which is one of the larger foot caves in Ha Long Bay with its ceiling at about 12m above sea level and about 80m in length, was developed in multiple stages. Bo Nau, a horizontal cave containing old stalactite deposits, cuts across the 25o dip of the bedding plane.
The third group is the marine notch caves that are a special feature of the karst of Ha Long Bay. The dissolution process of sea water acting on the limestone and erosion by wave action crates notches at the base of the cliffs. In advantageous conditions, dissolution of the limestone allows the cliff notches to be steadily deepened and extended into caves. Many of these at sea level extend right though the limestone hills into drowned dolines which are now tidal lakes.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
Floating Fishing Village, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
The floating village is a cultural heritage and tourist attraction in Halong bay, Vietnam. People have been living in these houses for hundreds of year with fishing as the main income activity. This beautiful Bay is also famous for many floating fishing villages with about 600 residents who sustain through fishing and fish cultivation activities. It is a magically calm place, an escape from the hustle of Vietnam streets. There are four residential areas of fishermen living on a bay, about 400 households totaling approximately 1000 people. The fishermen live on boats and floating wooden houses in the coze-zone of Halong Bay, which is dozens of kilometers away from the mainland. They have no home or land ownership and their main livelihood is fishing and aquaculture.
The Visitors often travel to enjoy life in some villages such as: Vong Vieng Village, Cua Van Village, Ba Hang Village or Cap De Village in Hung Thang Commune.
Source: http://www.gohalongbay.com/travel-guide/Visiting-Floating-Villages-in-Halong-Bay.html
The Visitors often travel to enjoy life in some villages such as: Vong Vieng Village, Cua Van Village, Ba Hang Village or Cap De Village in Hung Thang Commune.
Source: http://www.gohalongbay.com/travel-guide/Visiting-Floating-Villages-in-Halong-Bay.html
Harbor Area, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
efore 19th century, the name Halong Bay had not been recorded in the old books of our country. It has been called An Bang, Luc Thuy, Van Don. Late 19th century, the name Halong Bay has appeared on the Maritime map of France. "Haiphong News" published in French, has reported: " Dragon appears on Halong Bay". The story can be summarized as follows: In 1898, lieutenant Lagoredin captain of Avalangso met a couple of giant sea snake on Halong Bay three times. Not only the lieutenant but also many other sailors saw those species. The European thought that those animals looked like Asian dragon. Maybe the appearance of strange animals led to the name of Quang Ninh sea area today: Halong Bay.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
Traveling to Ha Long Bay from Hanoi
If you are travelling on your own and want to save cost, taking the bus from Hanoi to Halong can be a good thrill. From Kim Ma bus station on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, you can take Hoang Long express which departs every 15 minutes from the station. It will take about 3-4 hours to reach the pier. The cost is about 60 000 VND. After that, there are plenty of cruise operators that you can choose from to hop on. This way of transport is exciting partly because you get to be part of the daily commune of the locals, who come and go to Hanoi. Additionally, with someone who has no fix schedule, taking the bus is very convenient. However, this type is more suitable for those who are more familiar with Vietnam conditions or has adventurous streak; for first time tourists, it is not recommended.
Source: http://www.halongbay.info/getting-there/hanoi-to-halong-bay.html
Source: http://www.halongbay.info/getting-there/hanoi-to-halong-bay.html
Our Cruise Ship on Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
According to local legend, when Vietnam had just started to develop into a country, they had to fight against invaders. To assist the Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. Under magics, numerous rock mountains abruptly appeared on the sea, ahead of invaders' ships; the forward ships struck the rocks and each other. After winning the battle, the dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth, and then decided to live in this bay. The place where the mother dragon descended was named Hạ Long, the place where the dragon's children attended upon their mother was called Bái Tử Long island (Bái: attend upon, Tử: children, Long: dragon), and the place where the dragon's children wriggled their tails violently was called Bạch Long Vỹ island (Bạch: white-color of the foam made when Dragon's children wriggled, Long: dragon, Vỹ: tail), present day Trà Cổ peninsula, Móng Cái.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay
