Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh has thousands of islands and many beautiful areas.

For nearly a decade, the nominee for a Natural Wonder of the World title has attracted more tourists since the bridge linking Bai Chay (Chay Beach) and Hon Gai (Gai Islet) was built.

In the bay area, there are many caves, beaches, restaurants, hotels and entertainment sites. Among its well-known scenic spots and tourist sites are Thien Cung, Dau Go and Trinh Nu caves, and Ti Top, Tuan Chau and Ba Trai Dao beaches.

At hotels on Bai Chay, visitors can ask at reception desks to hire tourist ships to visit the bay. You can choose which ship from photos and decide beforehand how long the tour should be and which places to visit or if you will have lunch on board.

The ships usually have sofas on the top deck for tourists to sit and watch the seascape. The deck below has tables and chairs made from precious woods worth billions of dong. Some cruises from big travel agencies also have karaoke rooms and bars.

According to Ha, who is a helmsman, tourist ships have to compete with one another because hundreds of them operate in the bay. A ship is considered successful if it is recommended by its customers. For this reason, tourist ships strictly observe the itinerary and respect customers.

Tourist ships usually take people to see Bai Chay Suspension Bridge first and then take them to visit Thien Cung Cave, one of the biggest and most beautiful caves in the bay. If there is time, they will stop at other caves and Ti Top Beach, a beautiful coral beach.

The ships also go past Ga Choi Islet, two rocks which look like roosters fighting each other.

The crew normally brings along fresh seafood for customers’ lunch. During the boat tour, you can see small boats selling fish, crabs and shrimp that you can buy and grill them to eat on board.n (MONRE)

Along the coastline of central Vietnam there are many cliff areas, but the one which is the most outstanding and beautiful could very well be the Da Dia Cliffs in Phu Yen province. It is really a masterpiece of nature.

Heres how to get to the Da Dia Cliffs from the city of Tuy Hoa: Go north on National Highway 1A about 31 kilometers. Look for the Ngan Son bridge in hamlet 6, An Ninh Dong commune, Tuy An district – stop to ask. There you will see a straight asphalt road and you take that about 12km to the Da Dia Cliffs. The Da Dia Cliffs are 50m wide and more than 2,000m long. It is listed as a national tourist site.

Geology team 703 said that the stone of the Da Dia Cliffs is basalt and that the cliffs were formed by volcanic eruption in the Van Hoa (Son Hoa) Plateau about 200 million years ago. When the molten rock spewed out into the sea, it hardened and cracked both vertically and horizontally, creating the layers of rock that we see at Da Dia Cliffs today.

The Da Dia Cliffs from a distance look like a huge beehive. It is a huge pile of hexagonal and pentagonal shaped basaltic rocks. A part of the cliffs is under the sea water while most of it is above the sea surface. The sea crashes onto the cliffs all year round and the black and yellow rocks look very smooth and shiny. In the center of the cliffs is a depression filled with still water.

Beyond the cliffs is a 3-km long sickle-shaped sandbank called Bai Bang on which there are yellow rocks lying on smooth, white sand in the shade of tropical almond trees. The seawater here is said to be very clean making it an ideal beach for both domestic and foreign tourists.

One can sit on the rocks at Da Dia Cliffs and contemplate the beauty of the sky and the sea, melt into the sun and rhythm of the sea and feel the unique beauty of these amazing cliffs. (MONRE)

Washington, July 27 : A new survey has lead to the discovery of a massive cave in a remote Vietnamese jungle, which is the largest single cave passage yet found.

According to a report in National Geographic News, at 262-by-262 feet (80-by-80 meters) in most places, the Son Doong cave beats out the previous world-record holder, Deer Cave in the Malaysian section of the island of Borneo.

Deer Cave is no less than 300-by-300 feet (91-by-91 meters), but it’s only about a mile (1.6 kilometers) long.

By contrast, explorers walked 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) into Son Doong, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, before being blocked by seasonal floodwaters-and they think that the passage is even longer.

In addition, for a couple of miles, Son Doong reaches more than 460-by-460 feet (140-by-140 meters), according to Adam Spillane, a member of the British Cave Research Association expedition that explored the massive cavern.

Spillane was in the first of two groups to enter the cave. His team followed the passage as far as a 46-foot-high (14-meter-high) wall.

“The second team that went in got flooded out. We’re going back next year to climb that wall and explore the cave further,” he said.

A local farmer, who had found the entrance to the Son Doong cave several years ago, led the joint British-Vietnamese expedition team to the cavern in April.

The team found an underground river running through the first 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers) of the limestone cavern, as well as giant stalagmites more than 230 feet (70 meters) high.

The explorers surveyed Son Doong’s size using laser-based measuring devices.

Such modern technology allows caves to be measured to the nearest millimeter, according to Andy Eavis, president of the International Union of Speleology, the world caving authority, based in France.

“With these laser-measuring devices, the cave sizes are dead accurate,” he said. “It tends to make the caves smaller, because years ago we were estimating, and we tended to overestimate,” he added.

Eavis agreed that the new findings confirm Son Doong’s record status-despite the fact that he had discovered Borneo’s now demoted Deer Cave.

“This one in Vietnam is bigger,” he conceded.

A biologist will accompany the team on its return visit next year to survey the cave’s subterranean wildlife.

Eavis added that there are almost certainly bigger cave passages awaiting discovery around the world.

“That’s the fantastic thing about caving,” he said. (Cambodian Times, Malaysia Sun))

The developers of an ecotourism project in northern Ninh Binh Province have been accused of damaging 32 million-year-old limestone caves.

The Trang An Ecotourism Complex, which partially opened to tourists last year, is planned to become a major tourist drawcard in Vietnam’s north.

The 2,168 hectare complex, being developed by Xuan Truong Co., includes a series of limestone caves and grottos, Vietnam’s largest pagoda and the site of Hoa Lu, the capital of the nation of Dai Co Viet from 968 to 1010.

The area is known as an “outdoor geological museum.”

Tourist facilities, including an information center, are also being built and the developer plans to offer a range of tours, including ecotours, kayaking tours and cultural tours.

But 11 of the caves in the grotto system appear to have been altered to allow tourist boats to pass through.

The grotto area covers about 1,566 hectare with some 100 grottoes, 48 of which are connected by a waterway through the limestone mountain range.

“Trang An is a `Ha Long Bay on the mainland’ because of its geographical resemblances to Ha Long and the similar landscapes,” said Dr. Tran Nghi, former director of the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, who has researched the area extensively.

Nghi said the caves could have been in existence for 32 million years.

Local authorities are planning to seek World Heritage listing for the Trang An complex, where construction work has been underway for eight years.

But the chance of Trang An receiving World’s Heritage status gets slimmer if the natural scenery is destroyed.

The roof of the 30 million-year-old cave in the Trang An Ecotourism Complex has been raised to create more space for tourist boats TUOI TRE

Xuan Truong Co. has denied widening the caves.

“We didn’t make any adjustments to the 11 caves, the only work we have done since 2000 was to clean out the mud in the river,” company director Nguyen Van Truong said.

Truong said any damage to the natural features of the caves was done in the past when feudal kings used the caves as naval training facilities.

A deputy director of the province’s Department of Culture, Spots and Tourism, who did not wish to be named, said some alterations had been made to the caves to ease the traffic flow at the complex.

After inspecting the 11 caves already open to tourists, Nghi demanded local authorities step in and prevent any further damage.

“Tourism investment activities on the site shouldn’t be conducted on large scale or it will distort the natural features of the area,” he said. “Only after receiving UNESCO recognition can we determine which sites can be changed and which sites must be preserved in their original state.”

Historian Le Van Lan also voiced concerns about the site. He said the grotto system was a natural barrier that protected the southern side of the ancient capital of Hoa Lu.

Lan said construction work, such as widening caves, tunneling through mountains and flooding some areas, was posing a grave threat to the historically significant site.

“They need to protect the unexcavated areas as soon as possible to preserve the area for historical research,” Lan said.

Scientists are worried about what may happen to the other river and lake caves at Trang An and have called on local authorities to act fast to stop any further destruction. (tuoitre)