Kayaking, Caving and Beach BBQ!!

 

Today, was a very relaxing day with just kayaking, caving and a beach BBQ on the agenda and enjoying the beauty of Halong Bay - as well as some of the legends that surround it - not to mention that this Bay is now one of the NEW Seven Wonders of the World...Another bucket list checked.  

The legend says that during the old time when the country was newly formed, Vietnamese had to fight against fierce invaders coming from the North through the sea. Feeling sorry for the country, The Jade Emperor sent the Mother Dragon and her children descending on earth to help ancient Vietnamese people defend the country.

While the mighty enemies were attacking the main land, The Mother Dragon and her children suddenly appeared and incinerated the enemies with their divine fire and giant emeralds. The emeralds from the dragon’s mouth were scattered around the battlefield on the sea and formed an invincible defensive wall that left enemy battleship fleet sinking. Thanks to the dragons, the Northern invaders were finally swept away and the peace finally came back the South East Asian country once again. After thousands of years, the wall of emerald turned into island and islets of different sizes and shapes.

After the battle, The Mother Dragon and her children didn’t come back to the heaven, but stayed in the mortal world and turned into human form and help people planting, cropping, raising cattle, reclaiming, and expanding the country.

To remember the help of Mother Dragon and her children, the people who lived there from generation to generation name the bay where the Mother Dragon descended “Ha Long or Halong” and the bay where her children descended “Bai Tu Long”, which means “Thanks to the Dragon’s children."

 Another legend we learned was about the caves - Supposedly the fairies lived in the caves and that if we used our imaginations we could see whatever we wanted.  We walked through one of the caves and learned about the formation of the stalagmites and stalactites and that this cave was still active in formation because it was still dipping and forming.  Some of the formations in the cave are oover thousands of years old - as they only grow about a centimeter every four years and some of them were HUGE, including one called the pillar.  All in all - it was pretty amazing.  We also got to kayak in some caves - including the Dragon’s nose and one that went all the way through the mountain.   We went at high tide, so there were some places in the cave that were a bit hard for Trevor to navigate due to his height, but he made it through.

We also enjoyed a Beach BBQ Vietnamese style.  Everyone enjoyed the vibe of eating outside on the beach and the food was really good.  It has been a nice relaxing day.  Tomorrow we are off to the Floating Village and then we fly to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) later this afternoon to begin our adventures in North Vietnam.