Residents of Vietnam tell a story about the origination of Halong Bay; Jade Emperor sent some dragons on the land of Vietnam; those dragons sprayed a thousand numbers of pearls and gems from their mouth. All from these pearls, around 1,600 limestone big stones of Halong Bay emerged, these all were especially for the protection of Vietnamese residents from invaders in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Most of the travellers visiting here go through many rocky hills floating on sea water-some soaring even to a height of 100m high. Visitors from all around the world are visiting here day by day and experiencing the best halong bay cruise tour. As a passenger plans for a tour to Vietnam, the first step is the flight to Hanoi. On the first flight, what he could see are the parts of the Halong bay which are not visible from a Halong cruise – lush, sculpted valleys and hidden lakes which glint in the late afternoon sun. It is somewhat to explore some untouched places since the mother goddess of Vietnam Au Co, and the dragon prince, Lac Long Quan, made a contact on earth thousands of years ago before they gave birth to the ancestors of modern Vietnam.Before landing at the local marina 4 hours bus tour is taken from Hanoi, instead to save the time you can opt for a new seaplane service which takes only 30 minutes to reach your local marina. Now this is the place from where visitors choose the best Halong bay cruise from several Halong bay cruises, with varying prices as per their varying services. The place Halong Bay is the most attracting point for tourists these days as this place comes under UNESCO Heritage site and worlds of wonder of nature for its natural beauty.
Nowadays some of the Halong bay cruises started cruise service to one more place here other than Halong Bay that is Bai tu Long Bay.We selected the package of Halong Bay Cruise tour with Starlight Cruises for three-day and two-night cruise with handsome and luxurious cabins with balconies showing the best view of floating mountains on sea waters.The huge white and shining cruise headed first to Bai Tu Long Bay, which is the outer area of the limestone fort, before cruising through Halong Bay to explore the best natural beauty at the end of the trip.Bai Tu Long basically means ‘the place where the dragon children arrived’. It’s a secluded, dreamy, area of the gulf, expanded with peaks, pillars edged with spread twigs.We started our cruising with- Vung Ha Beach – a half-moon-shaped bay at the bottom of a laid down rock with jagged, castellated peaks. After this headed to kayaking passing through a nearby stack, we busted the paddles and dived in to the warm, papaya green waters. After a deep stay inside, it was the time to sit on shattered sands perfumed by the fragrance of a white flower floating over the beach.As we moved back to the board of Halong Cruise we met with some other places’ visitors from Australia, Europe, America and Vietnam. At the time of sunset the sun’s dark rays reflect the shine of mountain’s rocks. When the swan of the moon was arising, all the visible part as far as possible was just a violet representation of the site with dying violet clouds blackish outlines of limestone plateaus. The stars in the clear black sky seemed to be hanged with some support twinkling to reflect the clarity of the sea water. The clear water of the sea was also reflecting the twinkling light of the stars as if someone has dispersed some snow or cotton on the surface of the sea water.
Our breakfast in the very early morning in Starlight Halong cruise dining room was coming so picturesque to see. As we were moving ahead small and big rocks as if some floating mountains or hills were left behind. Some rocks were in the shape of straight pillars seemed to be jagged as like as the crafted scales of a dragon, some other looks like jelly-mould structure, some were even in a shape of girl, soldier and many more shapes.At a corner of Bai Tu Long is Vung Vieng village. This villages’ main occupation is fishing. In order to control the pollution some of the people there were places to land. We planned for a bamboo boat board to reach to these villages. Locals here have their local market selling jewelry, cosmetics and medicines too.After this visit to the village Vung Vieng and also experiencing the canvas umbrellas around there we came to hear that it was the time to do some exercise but before lunch it was quite difficult.
We headed towards the Starlight Cruise again for the lunch. Starlight Cuisine was based on the strategy of deliciousness and harmony. The food was mostly the sea food as we would see sea all around of us.Well the meal for the lunch included delicate dragon fruit and Phan Thiet scallops, grilled minced Halong fish on lemon grass, chicken roulade with onion cream, and an intense passion fruit panacotta. Stomachs were full now after a 20 minutes break we headed toward the largest island in Halong Bay- a colossal karst platform, surrounded by tiny islands.Grottoes at Halong Bay are being visited from 100 years of long past time when French discovered them. The best view of the place Halong Bay with Halong Bay Cruise in our Halong Bay Cruise tour was the “floating mountains” and “the dinner inside the caves”.The dinner provided was inside the caves. Food was really very awesome on a long table set there. The walls inside the caves were hard enough. Lights were set all around for the dim light best place ever seen for the dinner.Everyone’s experience was just “WOW”; really the setup was something awesome. The craft on the inner walls were something that looks to be designed by some craftsmen thousands of years before with continuously working on its design.
These are some key-points in short to describe the full way guide for exploring Halong Bay Cruise Tour and Bai Tu Long Bay
Reaching Hanoi
You need to visit Hanoi first of all. Hanoi is the airport here. From here you will head to Halong Bay or Bai Tu Long Bay as per your booking for Halong Bay Cruises.
How to get around ?
Here the service of Self-Drive car hire is not available for short-term travelers to Vietnam. Mostly the visitors book the best Halong Bay Cruise which includes your arrival to Halong Bay by a seaplane or a private bus as per the package.
The Inside Track
As there are a number of good places to visit in sea water, you need a boat or you can opt for a Halong Bay Cruise. You have both the options open. Taking a boat you will have to book some hotel apart. But if you book a cruise there is no problem of hotels, rooms and all. The Halong bay cruises have deluxe cabins and luxurious cabins for different prices. You can easily choose as per your budget.
Food to eat
If you are selecting a cruise you need not to worry for the food because it’s included in the package. If you opt for hotel you can go for street food. Street food is also good as the locals prepare the food with their specialities for a better taste.
Best time span
Best time to visit
Halong Bay is so beautiful that it can be visited all around the year. But the time span between September to November and March to April is considered to be the best as per the climate.
Get some important information about the reasons to visit Halong Bay specially on Lunar Year.
A guest post written by Himanshu Dixit , a Travel Writer.
