Ha Long Bay

Written by Frederic:

Ha Long Bay is an internationally recognized natural wonder and is by far the most popular tourist destination in Viet Nam. To get there involved a two and a half hour drive from where we were in Ha Noi. Once we were on the boat and in the bay, we were free to experience the calm of the bay’s still water and almost 2000 small limestone islands. What is most remarkable about the bay is the way in which it transports one to another place and state of mind. Despite the filth and garbage made plentiful by masses of tourists, and floating fishing villages that have always inhabited the bay, one feels transported in a way that fuels a drive to go farther and search deeper into the apparent infinity that surrounds; yet this feeling is coupled with the certainty that one will never reach wherever it is one is search for.

In the heart the bay inside one of its bigger islands, is an enormous cave whose beauty mirrors that of the bay around it, once inside our guide took the opportunity to finish explaining to us the meaning of Ha Long Bay. Earlier he had explained that Viet Nam means “Viet people to the south”. Just as this name epitomized the ancient Vietnamese struggle to be independent from China to the north, the name Ha Long, as he explained, would symbolize the Vietnamese struggle to be independent. Because the bay was the sight of many won battles and rivers around the bay were the sight of a successful China-Viet Nam border, the area came to constitute a successful Vietnamese front for independence. In commemoration of this symbol, the bay was named Ha Long, which means “descending dragon”, making reference what I understood to be a creation myth of a dragon descending from the heavens into the sea to form an island of land. Just as in the myth, the bay and islands within it, symbolize the formation of an independent and whole Viet Nam. Though I’m sure our guide had dispensed this information dozens of times before, it was the most emotional he got all through the trip, and it was clear that he was proud. I was happy to be able to take the bay with me in memory not only as a sight of natural beauty but as a place of great importance to a great and ancient people.