Ha Long Bay - TuanChau Island, 2 days
- Viewed from above, Ha Long Bay looks like an extremely vivid huge drawing. This is a wonderful and skilful masterpiece of the Creation and of nature that turns thousands of dumb soulless stone islands into fantastic sculptural and artistic works of various graceful shapes, both familiar and strange to human beings. Thousands of islands emerging uneven in the fanciful waves look strong and magnificent but also mild and vivid. Amidst these islands we feel as if we were astray in a petrified legendary world....
- Tuan Chau Island is the only soil island of all. It is not only a place having beautiful natural surroundings: pine trees, lakes, beautiful beach... Tuan Chau but also where President Ho Chi Minh chose to be the relax place of other State officials' and his when they came here in 1959..
| - Length of the trip | : 2 days |
| - Trip Starts from | : Hanoi city |
| - Trip Ends in | : Hanoi city |
| - Required booking time | : 15 hours for individuals and 5 days for group in advance |
| - Rates per person | : 50$ - Standard: Alantic/ Hoa Binh Hotel*** |
| : 75$ - Deluxe: Morning star Hotel**** |
| : 85$ - Deluxe: Tuanchau resort****+ |
| - Rates are valid from 1 Janualy 2008 |
| - Others : Halong Bay 1 day on Junk |
Details of Tour:
Day 1 : Hanoi - HaLong Bay - Tuanchau Island
8:00 Pick up you at our office, departure to Halong. Enjoy the interesting 3.5 hour drive to Ha Long city. Arrive in Ha Long city. Lunch at Thanlong restaurant or on boat.
Then take a boat trip about 4hrs journey. Cruise through the emerald waters between the limestone outcrops and long corridors, visit THIEN CUNG cave (the cave of the heavenly palace famous for its stalagmites and stalactites) the cave has only opened to the public since 1998. A short way visit the newly discovered DAU GO grotto. Back to Halong city where your minibus will be waiting for you to take you to TuanChau island. Dinner and overnight in TuanChau. Enjoy the Music Water Fountain show (ticket is not included).
Day 2: Tuan Chau Island - Hanoi
7:00 Have breakfast at hotel. Free to visit Halong or TuanChau island. Enjoy the Dolphin show (the ticket is not included). Lunch at Hotel. Back to Hanoi. 16h00 Arrive in Hanoi. End of tour.
Tour price:
Price | Group | Private/pax |
1pax | 2-3pax | 4-6pax | over 7pax |
Standard | 50$ | 219$ | 126$ | 85$ | 67$ |
The trip includes:
The car with air-condition
Twin - share accomodation with daily breakfas in Tuanchau Island.
English speaking tour guide (other languge are avaitable upon request )
Meals specified in tour program (Main: $4 & ABF:$2)
All entrance, permission and visiting fees
Boat trip in Halong Bay with 4 hours.
The trip excludes
Visa to Vietnam
Departure airport tax
Meals which are not included in the program
Personal travel & medical insurance
International flights to and from Vietnam
All personal & daily expenses
All gratuities and tips to drivers and guides
Note:
Surcharges for peak seasons, Christmas and New Year Holidays, lunar New Year Festival, extras for room, air tickets upgrades shall be applied
Group tour: To join with other people on available daily tours. These tours are fixed itinerary and deparute time. It is possible to join in even your group of only 1 or 2 people. Customer do not to find other people to form the group. It is our company duty to gather the tourists for each tour. For these tours, you have to share the coach, boat and tour guide with other tourists who come from different nationalities. The number of people of this group is normally less than 16 persons.
Private tour: To do the tour privately. The tour is not fixed, it is possible to be customized for your group. All service is reserved for your group only. You do not have to share the bus, boat, tour guide with other tourists. One exception, if you stay at the boat in Halong bay - it is like the hotel in Halong - you still have to share the boat with other people.
HaLong Bay and Tuan Chau Island:
Overview
The legend of Ha Long has it that, "Once upon a time, soon after the Viet people established their country, invaders came. The Jade Emperor sent Mother Dragon and her Child Dragons down to earth to help the Viet people fight against their enemy. Right at the time invaders' boats were rushing to the shore, the dragons landed down on earth. The dragons immediately sent out from their mouths a lot of pearls, which then turned into thousands of stone islands emerging in the sea like great walls challenging the invaders' boats. The fast boats couldn't manage to stop and crashed into the islands and into each other and broke into pieces.
After the victory, Mother Dragon and Child Dragons didn't return Heaven but stayed on earth at the place where the battle had occurred. The location Mother Dragon landed is nowadays Ha Long Bay and where Child Dragons descended is now Bai Tu Long. The dragons' tails waving the water created Long Vi (present Tra Co peninsula) and formed a fine sand beach over ten kilometers long".
Ha Long Bay is located in the northeastern part of Vietnam and constitutes part of the western bank of Bac Bo Gulf, including the sea area of Ha Long City and Cam Pha Town and part of VAn Don island district. It abuts Cat Ba Island in the southwest. Toward the west is the shore with a 120 km-long coastline. It is located within 106o58'-107o22'east longitude and within 20o45'- 20o50'north latitude. The site is 1553 sq. km with 1969 islands of various sizes, of which 989 have been named.
The islands in Ha Long Bay are mainly limestone and schist islands most lying in the two main areas: the southeastern part of Bai Tu Long Bay and southwestern part of Ha Long Bay. These islands represent the most ancient images of a geographical site having a tectonic age of from 250 million to 280 million years. They are the result of many times of rising and lowering processes of the continent to form a karst. The process of nearly full erosion and weathering of the karst created the unique Ha Long Bay in the world. In a not very large area, thousands of islands with different forms look like glittering emeralds attached to the blue scarf of a virgin. The area where many stone islands concentrate has spectacular scenes and world-famous caves and is the center of Ha Long Bay Natural Heritage, including Ha Long Bay and a part of Bai Tu Long Bay.
The area is recognized as the World Natural Heritage that is the area of 434 sq. km with 775 islands. It looks like a giant triangle with Dau Go Island (in the west), Ba Ham Lake (in the south) and Cong TAy Island (in the east) as its three angle points. The nearby area is the buffer area and areas classified as national beauty spots in 1962 by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Viewed from above, Ha Long Bay looks like an extremely vivid huge drawing. This is a wonderful and skilful masterpiece of the Creation and of nature that turns thousands of dumb soulless stone islands into fantastic sculptural and artistic works of various graceful shapes, both familiar and strange to human beings. Thousands of islands emerging uneven in the fanciful waves look strong and magnificent but also mild and vivid. Amidst these islands we feel as if we were astray in a petrified legendary world. There are many names given to islands according to their shapes and forms. This one looks like somebody heading toward the shore: Hon Dau Nguoi (Human Head Island); that one looks like a dragon hovering above the sea surface: Hon Rong (Dragon Island); another looks like an old man sitting fishing: Hon La Vong; some look like big sails struggling amidst the wind to set off for the sea: Hon Canh Buom (Sail Island); then two islands look like a pair of chicken lovingly playing with each other above the sea: Hon Trong Mai (Male and Female Chicken Island); and amid the vast sea stands an island like a big incense burner like a ritual offering to Heaven: Hon Lu Huơng (Incense Burner Island). All are so real that people are taken aback by them. Those stone islands have experienced unpredictable changes over time and they take different shapes from different angles of view. Here, we come to realize that they are not dumb inanimate things but are vivid and soulful.
Inside the stone islands are various breath-taking caves, such as Thien Cung, Dau Go, Sung Sot, Trinh Nu, Tam Cung and others. These are really magnificent palaces of the Creation on earth. Long ago, Ha Long Bay has been called by the great national poet Nguyen Trai: "a wonder of the earth erected towards the high sky". Many men of letters from all over the world have been taken aback at the grandiose scenery of Ha Long. They seem to get puzzled and incompetent as their treasure of vocabulary is not rich enough to depict the splendor of this place.
Ha Long Bay is also attached to glorious pages of Vietnamese history, with famous sites such as Van Don, a bustling trade port in the 12th century, charming Bai Tho Mountain, and not very far away from here is the Bach Dang River which witnessed two famous naval battles of the Viet's ancestors against invaders. Also, Ha Long is one of the cradles of human kind with the glorious Ha Long culture in the late Neolithic age, discovered at such archeological sites as Dong Mang, Xich Tho, Soi Nhu and Thoi Gieng.
Ha Long is also home to great biodiversity with typical eco-systems like mangrove forest, coral and tropical forest. It is also home to thousands of plants and animals of numerous species, for example shrimp, fish and squid. Some species are particularly rare and can be found no where else.
With such special values, at the 18th Session of UNESCO's Council of World Heritage held on 17 December 1994 in Thailand, Ha Long Bay was officially placed on the list of the World Natural Heritage. In 2000, UNESCO recognized it as the World Heritage for the second time for its geographical and geomorphologic values. This confirms the global premier value of Ha Long Bay.
Wherever you come from, whosoever you are and however old you are, you will certainly experience the same emotion and feeling when admiring this wonder of stone and water. And great experiences will always remain even when you leave the place. The legend of Mother Dragon and Child Dragons sending out pearls to form thousands of stone islands to stop invaders still serve as the soul of this invaluable heritage of the world.
Have you ever come to Ha Long, the unique wonder of the world of its kind, to admire and explore secretes implicit in the place?
Tuan Chau Island
On the south-west side of Ha Long City it is Tuan ChAu Island, a schist island, very pretty, with a luxuriant forest. It has an area of 220 ha, and to the east and south are two beaches endowed with very white and fine sand. In 1962, Ho Chí Minh visited Ha Long Bay and made a stop here for vacation. Nowadays, Tuan ChAu Island is one of the most attractive destinations in Ha Long City.
Tuan ChAu is in an important position at the entrance of the waterway system of Thang Long, Bach Dang and VAn Don, and this is why it was formerly a military watch station. The Office of Feudal Customs was also installed there.
The island also has many archaeological sites pertaining to the ancient Ha Long culture from 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.
One can go to Tuan Chau Island via the 2-km cement road from the mainland. Investments have been poured into the island to turn it into a modern tourist resort. It includes such fascinating extras as the dolphin, sea lion, and seal-performing club, animal circus club, golf court, cultural-sports center, beach, rural market, ornamental fish lake, villas in Hill 1 and Hill 2, guesthouses, five 80-room villas by the beach. The ensemble of five restaurants and one round house built in the pagoda motif can serve up to 500 guests at the same time.
In Tuan Chau, the octagonal house where President Ho Chi Minh rested when he visited Ha Long now became his memorial site. Tuan ChAu Island is expeditiously putting the finishing touches to its construction works so that they can be made available for the 2003 Ha Long Tourism Year.
Hoang Gia International Park
Hoang Gia international park (Royal Park) runs along Bai Chay Beach, from Bai Chay Wharf to Ha Long Night Market. It is a comprehensive resort totaling 8 ha. Restaurants in the park serve European, Chinese, and Vietnamese food and seafood. You can enjoy yourself to the fullest with the entertainment and recreation services: 400 m artificial beach, bars and bathing services center, emergency station, park, garden of birds and orchids, archery grounds, cactus, sensation train, ghostly house, discotheque, karaoke bar, electronic car, art gallery, open-air stage, water puppetry and traditional music and singing; museum; quay for sight-seeing tours.
400 m from Bai Chay is Reu Islet, an attractive eco-tourist site with several kinds of rare birds and animals namely python, ostriches, dwarf horses, and fish, and ornamental trees. It also provides a wide range of services such as restaurant and open-air bar, park, and canoes for cruising around.
In the future, Hoang Gia International Joint-Venture (Taiwan) continues investing in building more facilities to serve tourists.
Thien Cung Grotto
It is situated on the south-west side the bay, 4 km from the wharf outside of Ha Long City. The way to Thien Cung is a perilous one, covered on both sides by thick forest. After entering a narrow gate, the grotto’s 130-meter-long girth opens up. Getting in we are more astonished in front of the very animated and splendid beauty which is made from stalactite. On the east wall of the grotto, there is a grandiose and imposing picture with characters of tales.
Going out of the ThiEn Cung Grotto, we have a sensation of just watching a unique, meticulous, interesting fine-art museum which is made by nature, get out of the imagine, ability and intellect of man. This grotto is recently discovered, one of the most beautiful grottoes in Ha Long Bay.
Legend has it, that beautiful young lady named May (cloud), caught the eye of the Dragon Prince and he fell in love with her. They were betrothed, and their wedding lasted seven days and seven nights in the very centre of the grotto. In honour of the wedding, small dragons flew about through the stalactites and stalagmites, elephants danced together happily, snakes twined themselves around trees and two stone lions danced with their manes flowing in the wind. A large elephant, smartly dressed, waited for the bride and the groom. The genies of the south and north stars also came to attend the banquet, and the atmosphere was definitely animated and lively. All these scenes have been seemingly fossilized in the grotto.
In the centre are four large pillars supporting the "roof of heaven". From the base to the top, many strange images seem to live in the stone: birds, fish, flowers and even scenes of human life. On the north wall of the grotto a group of fairies seem to dance and sing in honour of the wedding. Under the immeasurably high roof, stalactites make a natural stone curtain. Somewhere there is the sound of a drum beating, but it is actually just the noise made by the wind blowing through stone.
Arriving at the last partition of the grotto, a natural gushing stream of water babbles throughout the year. Here are three small ponds of clear water. Legend has it, that this was where MAy bathed her 100 children, bringing them up wisely and happily into adolescence. One path meanders out of the grotto; it was the way MAy, together with 50 of her children, took to harvest new lands. The 50 remaining children, together with their father, were left to build the native land. Left behind by the mother was the natural stream described above.
Dau Go Grotto
The grotto is on Driftwood Island. Seen from afar, the entrance to the grotto appears to be blue, and has a shape similar to that of a jellyfish. After 90 steps up the island, the entrance is reached. The ceiling of the grotto is about 25 m. Hundreds of stalactites falling down from the roof of the grotto look like a waterfall.
The grotto is divided into three main parts. The exterior is a room with a vault full of natural light. Many forms may be seen in the rock formations of the chamber, depending on the imagination of the visitor of course. Crossing the first chamber, one enters the second chamber through a narrow passage. The light here is mysterious, and new images appear in the stone. It makes us having a fear and be inquisitive. The third chamber of the grotto is widely opened. At the end of the grotto is a well of clear water. Looking up in the dim light we recognize that surrounded is the image of an ancient citadel and a scuffle of elephants, horses, man with bristly sword and spear. All are making a rush and be petrified suddenly.
The name Driftwood Grotto came from a popular story of the resistance war against the Yuan - Mongolian aggressors. In a decisive battle, TrAn Hung Dậo was given the order to prepare many ironwood stakes here, to be planted on the riverbed of Bach Dang River. The remaining wooden pieces found in the grotto have given it its present name. And the name GiAu GO is associated with the legend that General TrAn Hung Dao (1226-1300) hid ironwood stakes in preparation for the Bach Dang battle against the Yuan-Mongolian invaders.
If the ThiEn Cung Grotto is monumental and modern (in its natural form), then Driftwood Grotto is solemn, but also grandiose. In "Marvels of the World," published in France in 1938, the author called the grotto "Grotte des merveilles" (a site of many marvels) In the first chamber, in the very middle of the grotto, is a colossal pillar supporting the large vault. On the top of the pillar, there appears to be a monk draped in a long, dark cloak, with his right hand clasping a cane. The second chamber is narrow. Here, the stalactites look smaller but more graceful. One feels like going to a pagoda with a monk in meditation so that one steps more gently.
The third chamber features high stone columns out of which nature has carved images of a large kingdom, of heroes and soldiers holding swords and spears rushing up, of war elephants and horses or lions, etc. All of them suddenly was petrified and remained there for good. In 1917, Emperor Khai Dinh came to visit the grotto, and amazed by the beauty of the place, ordered the erection of an engraved stone stele singing the praises of Ha Long Bay and the grotto. Today, it remains to the right-hand side of the entrance.
Sung Sot Grotto
Situated in the centre of the UNESCO-declared World Heritage area, the Sung SOt or Surprise Grotto is on Bo Hon Island, and is one of the finest and widest grottoes of Ha Long Bay. Ascending to the grotto, the way is covered by trees and foliage, and consists of great paved stone blocks. Inside, it is partitioned into two chambers; the first one being similar to a wide theatre hall. Many stalactites hang from the high ceiling, with numerous possible forms and shapes. A narrow passage leads to the second rooms, where a flow of light meets visitors. The chamber is so immense it could contain thousands of people at one time.
At the deepest point of the grotto, a "royal garden" appears with a clear pond and a seemingly fascinating landscape of mountains. Many birds and plants (benjamin figs, cycads and centenary banyan trees) live here. On nice days groups of monkeys might arrive in search of fruit. It is situated in the central tourism centre of the bay, as well as Ti Top Beach, BO NAu Grotto, ME Cung Grotto and Luon Grotto. French named it "grotte des surprises" (grotto of surprise)
From the wharf, you climb 50 steep stone stairs to the mouth of the grotto, which lies 25 m above the sea level. Going down some 10 stone stairs, you reach the mouth of a grotto. The grotto covers some 10,000 m2. Inside the grotto there have thousands of stalactites and stalagmites along the 500-meter paved passage. Light posts line the passage and serve as signposts and ornaments. The lighting system with elegant styles adds more charm to the beauty of the grotto.
Up in the 30-meter roof of the grotto, one can figure out small, soft and even concave spots, which look like patterns in the ceiling of a theater. A huge piece of stone stands up to the ceiling by the grotto's mouth. This evidences one of the typical karst-style grottoes with high scientific values.
At the side of the entrance, the rock seems to form the shape of a horse with a long sword. Legend has it, that after having defeated the An aggressors, Thanh Giong (the Saint Giong) helped the population to chase away evil spirits and demons. After this feat, Saint Giong flew to heaven, leaving a stone horse and sword to continue to keep the demons away.
Ha Long market
Situated in the centre of Ha Long City, Ha Long market is the biggest market in Quang Ninh province. The spacious market has neatly arranged departments and stores, which sell various items of goods, from ordinary to luxurious ones. Most of them come from China. The aqua products are fresh and cheap. Ha Long market is famous for its grilled octopus, which any one who comes here should taste to forever remember the flavour of this speciality.
