Local Vietnamese legend declares that many centuries ago a family of dragons flew down and deposited a couple of thousand huge rocks off its north eastern coast line to protect the country from the constant threat of invading Chinese ships. Those dragons saved the day for the Vietnamese with many of the ships meeting their demise within the dense network of islands that the dragons created.
Now in present day the Vietnamese are still very thankful for those dragons as every day hundreds of tourists pump thousands of dollars into the economy coming to see this true wonder of the natural world.
It's hard to put into words and capture in photos what it's like cruising through Ha Long Bay but hopefully these photos begin to do it a little bit of justice.
We had a v memorable few days kayaking around the islands, sleeping in rooms with views that are second to none, chowing down on seriously fresh seafood and even braving a night swim despite water temps that took your breath (and balls) away.
For anyone that's interested, we went with Vega Travel who's based in Ha Noi and come very highly recommended.
