Halong Bay, Vietnam

The week before Easter, I flew to Hanoi, Vietnam via Hong Kong and Bangkok (a VERY long journey) where I spent some time exploring the historic capital city of the country as well as Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Made up of more than 1,600 islands, some rising up more than 100 meters, the excursion took me through some of the prettiest landscapes I've ever come across in my travels. UNESCO's description of this archipelago is far more accurate than I could have written:

"Ha Long Bay, located in the Gulf of Tonkin, within Quang Ninh Province, in the northeast of Vietnam, is165 km from the capital of Ha Noi. Covering an area of 43,400 ha and including over 1600 islands and islets, most of which are uninhabited and unaffected by humans, it forms a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars and is an ideal model of a mature Karst landscape developed during a warm and wet tropical climate. The property’s exceptional scenic beauty is complemented by its great biological interest.

The outstanding value of the property is centered around the drowned limestone karst land forms, displaying spectacular pillars with a variety of coastal erosional features such as arches and caves which form a majestic natural scenery. The repeated regression and transgression of the sea on the limestone karst over geological time has produced a mature landscape of clusters of conical peaks and isolated towers which were modified by sea invasion, adding an extra element to the process of lateral undercutting of the limestone towers and islands."

Our boat was able to disembark on one island where we entered a cave filled with stalagmites and stalactites that took hundreds of thousands of years to form; a truly amazing site. In future posts, I'll be reviewing my trip to Hanoi, Bangkok, the Bridge on the River Kwai and my Easter brunch at one of the top buffets in the world. For more picture from Halong Bay, click here.