Young girl on a vendor boat on the Halong Bay
Amazing seascapes caves kayaking bio diversity and Vietnam s best seafood Vietnam s most obvious attraction is Ha Long Bay adjacent to the Gulf of Tonkin and currently attracting nearly two million visitors each year Despite its status as one of Vietnam s busiest tourist centres its enormous scale unique geomorphology and indisputable splendour makes a visit almost essential Dao Go a large cavern worth visiting for its grandeur and Sung Sot for its remarkable stalactites and stalagmites This remarkable seascape owes its existence to a complex process of erosion referred to as karst A massive layer of high quality limestone was slowly dissolved by a warm wet climate that prevailed over South East Asia through untold millions of years Water trickled through crevices enlarged cracks in the limestone creating caves and caverns and caused weaker strata to collapse leaving the distinctive towers seen today Comparatively recently seismic activity inundates the low lying land creating Ha Long Bay The almost perpendicular peaks conceal the remains of many caves and grottos their entrances exposed when part of the tower wall collapsed but now concealed by subsequent rock falls and dense vegetation Some caves were already known and others have been discovers recently but expert opinion is that they represent only a fraction of those still hidden from view Three large caves in the heart of the area protected as World Heritage have been made accessible to visitors Many smaller caves can be visited but often require a scramble across rocks and through unlit passages In the southwest corner of Ha Long Bay is Cat Ba a large karst limestone island full of small mountains covered in verdant forest Part of the island is a National Park rich in flora and fauna including one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world Cat Ba also boasts two small but pleasant sandy beaches To the east is Bai Tu Long Bay Although not quite matching the
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Photo credit: © Vietnam Photography / Alamy / Afripics
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