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 Bav 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.
Charter boats can be arranged to Bai
Tu Long Bay from Halong Bay; a boat
suitable for 20 passengers costs
US$10 per hour and the one-way
journey takes about five hours. A
cheaper alternative is to travel
overland to Cua Ong pier, catch a
public ferry to Van Don Island and
visit the remote outlying islands by
boat from Cai Rong pier.
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