New Route: Halong - Bai Tu Long Bay – Vung Vieng – Sung Sot - Halong Bay
There's more to northeastern Vietnam than Halong Bay. The sinking limestone plateau, which gave birth to the bay's spectacular islands, continues for some 100km to the Chinese border. The area immediately northeast of Halong Bay is known as Bai Tu Long Bay. With long and smooth sand banks and clear water waves, Bai Tu Long Bay is associated with the graceful and sweet beauty of a teen-aged girl. The bay also attracts a growing number of domestic and foreign visitors to its historical and cultural sites, rare and precious specialties, and the archipelago's unspoiled beauty.
There is a legend about the archipelago that in the old days when the Vietnam was attacked by foreign invaders, the God sent a mother dragon and its babies to support the Vietnamese people. The dragons immediately blew out myriad pearls and gems that turned into grand rock mountains as a solid citadel to protect the Vietnam. After the foreign invaders were pushed away, the mother dragon and its babies did not return to the heaven but stayed in the lower world. The land where the mother dragon landed was then called Ha Long, and where the baby dragons landed called Bai Tu Long. The area where the dragon tails lashed was called Long Vi, nowadays Tra Co Peninsula, which consists of many long and smooth sand banks.
There are hundreds of islets rising from the water and many quirkily shaped rock mountains on Bai Tu Long Bay's site. Touring Bai Tu Long Bay, a day is not enough for visitors to discover these mysterious islets. Bai Tu Long National Park can also bring great surprises, and is one of the most desirable stopovers for visitors making a trip to Bai Tu Long Bay.
The Bai Tu Long National Park was formerly the 20km long and 1.5km wide Ba Mun Island. That island is part of Van Don District, some 60km away from Bai Chay Beach. The long island serves as a solid breakwater, preserving peaceful life for the whole region. The island is in fact a thick primitive forest consisting of two vegetation layers. The primeval layer consists of rare and precious woods like ironwood, teakwood, and canary-wood, while the second layer includes valuable herbs like araliaceous bark and rhubarb plant.
The Ba Mun primitive forest is the habitat of a variety of fauna. Spotted deer with their smooth fur are the most famous species. After showers when the weather turns fine, spotted deer often go to the forest edge to pick fresh buds that were washed by rainwater. The view from afar is excellent.
Visitors can reach the Bai Tu Long National Park by road from Bai Chay Beach or more romantically by speedboat. After tours, visitors can relax at stilt-houses near the water offering a wide range of food and drink.
Visitors can also call on a fishing village at Minh Chau Island or drop in on Cai Lang, the oldest village in the island with its clear-water Nang Tien (Fairy) Well. People once said that the girls' hair would grow longer and blacker if they used water from the well to wash it.
Taking advantage of Bai Tu Long Bay's attractions, many domestic travel companies both at home and abroad offer tours to the site. One of the best-selling tours brings visitors to the Bai Tu Long National Park, a fishing village at Minh Chau Island, Cai Lang, Thong Thien Cave, Phat Co Island, and finally returns to the shore to call at Cua Ong Temple and Van Hoa Port. Visitors can also go through thick forests to reach the habitat of ethnic minority groups (Dao Do, Tay, and San Diu minorities) and enjoy authentic local dishes.
Bai Tu Long Bay is every bit as beautiful as its famous neighbour. Indeed, in some ways it's more beautiful, since it has scarcely seen any tourist development. This has its positives and negatives. The bay is unpolluted and undeveloped, but there's little tourism infrastructure. It's pretty hard travelling around and staying here, and unless you speak Vietnamese, it's difficult to get information.
Vung Vieng is also known as Vong Vieng Village
Bai Tu Long and the Vung Vieng Fishing Village is off the beaten tourist track as it is not so near to the popular Cat Ba Island which has lodging, beaches and nearby caves where most of the large tour companies and boats operate.
There are about 50 families; the population is between 200 and 300 residents. This includes nearly 100 children. These families have lived in this village for generations. The language is Vietnamese. The village is a "floating village." There are no structures built on land. The village is very poor. Traditionally income for food and potable water (imported from the mainland) came solely from fishing. Now, there is some supplemental income from tourism also.
There are 4 fishing villages in the World Heritage site: Ba Hang, Cua Van, Vong Vieng and Cap La. Vong Vieng is the less touristy. After disembark the mother boat, you will be transfer by rowing boats, tender boats, or doing kayaking to enter Vong Vieng fishing village. After enter the village gate (see the picture), you have a chance to experience the villagers’ daily life as well as the traditional culture and customs of the fishermen, who live in the World Heritage Area of Halong Bay.
Their floating houses look spacious and clean. The well-off families even have tiled roof houses with radios, television sets, tables and chairs, etc. There is one community house here where villagers come to have meetings. Here is also the place tourists stopover to shop some traditional hand made items.
With the support of the tourists and travel companies like Indochina Junk, First Choice, Footprints, the village boasts a training establishment for their children. Over an area of 100m2 lies one classroom and one small room for teachers.
It is interesting to see the rambunctious children going to “school”. Their bustling calling and their flopping rowing liven up the atmosphere of the quite bay. Looking at the small boats driven by tiny oars going to school, and the radiant faces of the children, one feels confident in a bright future for the fishing village. Tourist can drop some notebooks, pens to the village children.
Sung Sot (Surprise) Grotto
Situated in the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage area, Sung Sôt or “Surprise Cave” is on Bo Hòn Island, and is one of the most spectacular and largest grottoes of Ha Long Bay. The mouth of the grotto is reached by ascending about a hundred stone steps. One is surrounded by trees and foliage on the journey up as the shimmering bay below offers an ever more panoramic vista to admire. The cave is partitioned into two chambers; the first being similar to a wide theatre hall, with many stalactites hanging from the high ceiling. A narrow passage leads to the second chamber, where a flow of natural light bathes the surfaces. The light is filtering in from above, through a large opening creating a natural skylight, this opening also serves as the exit from the grotto. The chamber is so immense it could contain thousands of people at one time.
The grotto covers some 10,000 m2. There are thousands of stalactites and stalagmites along the 500-meter paved passage. Light posts line the passage and illuminate the amazing scenery. Spotlights of varied colors are placed in such a way to be unobtrusive and add to the enchantment of the grotto.
The 30-meter high roof of the grotto, the walls and innumerable cracks and crevices are evidence of millions of years of spectacular natural creation. Close to the exit a mammoth formation stretches from floor to ceiling, tapering at the center to form a concave pillar that appears to be keeping the ceiling in place. Walking through the cave ones imagination can run wild conjuring up all kinds of fantastic creatures and fanciful creations.
And of course, as always here in Vietnam, there are legends! One such involves a rock which seems to form the shape of a horse and a long sword. As the legend goes, Thánh Gióng (Saint Gióng) helped the people of the area to chase away evil spirits and demons. After this feat, Saint Gióng flew to heaven, leaving a stone horse and sword behind to guarantee the demons did not dare to return.
Halong Bay
Halong Bay is undoubtedly Asia’s most enchanting destination, defined by a myriad of limestone island formations rising out of the emerald waters.
Hạ Long is also home to great biodiversity with typical eco-systems like mangrove forest, coral and tropical forest. It is also home to thousands of plants and animals of numerous species, for example shrimp, fish and squid. Some species are particularly rare and can be found no where else.
With such special values, at the 18th Session of UNESCO’s Council of World Heritage held on 17 December 1994 in Thailand, Hạ Long Bay was officially placed on the list of the World Natural Heritage. In 2000, UNESCO recognized it as the World Heritage for the second time for its geographical and geomorphologic values. This confirms the global premier value of Hạ Long Bay.
Wherever you come from, whosoever you are and however old you are, you will certainly experience the same emotion and feeling when admiring this wonder of stone and water. And great experiences will always remain even when you leave the place. The legend of Mother Dragon and Child Dragons sending out pearls to form thousands of stone islands to stop invaders still serve as the soul of this invaluable heritage of the world.
