Ha Long Bay is very popular not only with tourists but with wealthy Vietnamese as well. The resort is modern and commercialised and dozens of traditional Junks and other craft lay at anchor off the pier awaiting the arrival of their guests and all moved off in unison on the overnight tour of Ha Long Bay! Indeed they all moved in unison around the Bay for the next two days – all vying to get their guests to the next stopping point first!
Hạ Long Bay translates as "descending dragon bay" and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. The evolution of the karsts has taken place 20 million years as a result of the impact tropical wet climate. A Karst landscape is formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum and is characterised by underground sinkholes and caves. The Bay covers an area of around 1,553 km2 with some 1,900 islets of limestone.
Local legend suggests a rather different origin to the islets; as Vietnam began to develop into a country, it had to fight against invaders – reminiscent of Vietnam’s more recent history. To assist the Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. The 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 magic, numerous rock mountains abruptly appeared out of the sea, ahead of invaders' ships causing them to strike the rocks and each other.
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