Vinh Ha Long, in Vietnamese, means Bay of Descending Dragon. It’s a area of approximately 1,500 square kilometers with a 120 km coastline, in the Gulf of Tonkin, comprising 1,969 islands of different sizes. It’s located at Quang Ninh province of Vietnam.

There are many legends that depict how Halong Bay derived its name. One legend says that the giant limestone rock islands are dragons, protecting Vietnam from invaders. Another legend said the majestic Halong Bay was created when a dragon was fabled to have simply fallen into sea, her body and tail carved out holes and huge bays during her descent.

Too bad, none of the junk opened up the sail during our 2 days there. We heading towards Sung Sot cave along east side of Cat Ba island.

Most junks in Halong Bay have some kind of dragon at the front of the junk.

The panorama view of faded mountaintops at the distant horizon formed a beautiful landscape. The calmness of Halong Bay water is all depends on these islands that shelter Halong Bay from turbulence.