Day 3: Halong Bay

We stayed at Halong Pearl Hotel which is located at the heart of Halong city and right in front of the World Heritage site Halong Bay. It is just five minutes to the beach and about ten minutes to the wharf.

Vinh Ha Long, Halong Bay which means Bay of the Descending Dragon is often considered proudly by Vietnamese as the world's Eighth wonder. It includes some 1,600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Because of their precipitous nature, most of the islands are uninhabited and unaffected by human presence.

One of the main attractions of Ha long is the bay's calm water. Vietnamese are so proud of their Vinh Ha Long, so much that they want the world to vote it as one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

Our cruise started around 9.30am (Sp), our cruise ship (which was also our floating restaurant) reached one of their famous caves, Dong Thien Cung, a cave just discovered in recent years. It has high walls, vertically surrounded by many stalactites on every wall and is cavernous. According to Mr Ha, lights and steps inside the caves were completed only in 1997. We climbed up and down the steps, watched in awe at Mother Nature’s handiwork. We emerged out of the cave around mid-day.