HalongBay 040706 The surreal landscape of Halong Bay literally takes your breath away. A true wonder of the world.It is one of Vietnams major sites and a veritable reason to travel t the North East of Vietnam. It is geology gone wild. Limestone pinnacles protruding from teh waters continuiing to the Chinese boarder. Incredibly hot but the emerald water makes it OK. Kayaking through heavenly lagoons and breathtaking scenery. Vietnam has had less than cordial relations with the Chinese who invaded Vietnam in 2nd century and stuck around for 1000 years.They were finally vanquished in the 10th century. Anytime the Chinese wanted to invade they would do it from the Norht East,the last time as recently as 1975 ostensibly to punish the Vietnamese for invading Cambodia.there are 3000 islands jutting out of the waters and this site has been designated as a World Heritage Siteit is dotted with beaches and grottos with some of the most remarkable caves I have ever seen. Halong translates as "Where the Dragon descends into the sea" An overnight stay on a Junk - was surprisingly pleasant and met some fun people- lots of swimming,kayaking and general ooohing and aghing!! The beauty is only marred by the badly dressed back packers - being herded onto and off large junks - It is teaming with tourists .The Vietnamese are going for it in a big way- I cannot imagine what 2 years will do to Halong Bay- hotels are being built by the dozen , water parks etc - lot of money from Japan - so there will probably be roller coasters & fairy lights out the ying yang. But, it is for me one of the wonders of the world- Marge you would love it. Apparantly December is much cooler here and a good time- to travel for the more discerning!