Halong Bay on the South China Sea

Ha Long Bay (also Halong Bay) is in northern Vietnam, 170 kilometers east of Hanoi. The bay is famous for its scenic rock formations.

Understand

"Ha Long" is literally translated as "Bay of Descending Dragons." Prior to the 19th century, this name was not recorded in any document or archive. When mentioning the present-day Quang Ninh Sea or Ha Long Bay, old historical books often referred to them by the names of An Bang, Luc Thuy or Van Don. Not until the late 19th century did the name of Halong Bay appear on a French Marine Map. The Hai Phong News, a French newspaper of the time, had an article, Dragon appears on Ha Long Bay, reporting the following story: In 1898 a sub-lieutenant named Lagredin, captaining the Avalanse reported seeing a huge sea snake on Ha Long Bay. This was also witnessed by many of the crews. Thus emerged the European image of the Asian dragon. Whether this appearance of a strange animal looking like a dragon resulted the name of Ha Long Bay is not known.

Get in

Get around

See

It is recommended to spend 2-3 days on boat to admire the bay, Halong is also a great place for kayaking.

Do

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

• On board You can sleep aboard on Halong Bay, there are serveral kind of junks provides overnight cruise on the bay, range from standard junks to luxury cruises. Halong bay tours and Hotels

• There are several new hotels on Cat Ba Island, most cater to package overnight boat trips.

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