ALL ABOUT HALONG BAY AND VACATION HERE

HaLong Bay is northern Vietnam's biggest attraction, one of the world magnificent natural heritages of the Far East with 3000 limestone and dolomite islands rising from waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. The vegetation-covered islands, which are spread out over an area of 1500 sq km, are dotted with innumerable beaches and grottoes created by the wind and the waves. Visitors have compared the area's magical landscape of carboniferous chalk islets to Guilin in China and Krabi in southern Thailand.

The meaning of "Ha Long", in Vietnamese, Ha means "descend", and "Long" means "dragon", so the word HaLong means "where the dragon descends into the sea".

HaLong Bay Descending dragon

Legend has it that the islands of HaLong Bay were created by a giant dragon who lived in the mountains. As he ran towards the coast, his flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses; as he plunged into the sea, the areas dug up by his tail became filled with water, leaving only bits of highland visible. The bay is even said to be inhabited by a mysterious marine creature of gargantuan proportions known as the Tarasque. HaLong Bay affords some of Vietnam's most spectacular scenery, including beautiful limestone formations, rock arches, gin-clear water, virtually scenery lagoons, sheer cliffs, peaceful coves, eerie caves, secluded strips of white, powdery sand, and thousands of limestone islets. Like sculpted cartoon characters, these islet are fancifully named: Frog Island, Face Island, Isle of Surprise, etc.

PROTECT YOUR CAMERA ON THE BEACH WITH THIS GREAT TRICK

The below technique works well when you want to let your creative spirit flow, but unfortunately the beach you chose is not the safest place in the world. Once you are done with pictures & videos, put your camera in the bag or simply wrap a towel around it and jog for a few minutes. While you are jogging look back from time to time to make sure that nobody is following you. In this way you will ensure that once you reach your new spot nobody will know that you have the camera on you. I used this technique in Rio de Janeiro and it worked perfectly well. You may think: “nobody will steal from me”. Well, this may be true. However, if your equipment is expensive and beaches you plan to visit are perceived to be a bit more dangerous (e.g. Rio or Barcelona), then I encourage you to test my approach. Unfortunately, I still see many situations around the world where people flash photos and make videos on the beach only to put the camera in the bag and lie down. At that point every thief on the beach knows that the camera is securely packed in that nice green bag resting next to the deckchair. It becomes an easy target for an expert and there are many of them. Especially when you travel with halong bay tours to Halong bay, one of the most popular beaches in Viet Nam. I will never forget when I was in Copacabana and saw 2 guys flashing their iPhones and fancy cameras in front of everybody. On the top of that they had T-shirts with Norwegian flag. All of this was like a gigantic neon sign saying: “Rob me please. I came from a rich country and brought some fancy things with me. Don’t worry, I will not fight for them”. I really hope that these guys avoided the trouble. Nevertheless, showing your wealth is the last thing you want to do in certain places.

WHAT IS SECRET POCKETS AND WHY WE NEED THEM?

Anywhere has bad people and good people. Secret pockets are amazing as they enable you to hide most of your cash & documents and leave only the necessary amount in your regular pockets. The idea behind it is that if somebody is trying to rob or simply pickpocket you, he is unlikely to get to the core of your cash.

Whenever you find yourself in a position where you need more money, simply go to the toilet and take it out from your hidden pockets. In this way nobody will even suspect that you have them. If you are a woman you can also hide the money inside your bra, in the padding, blanket.

I’ve visited many places perceived to be quite dangerous, and trust me, when you are strolling along crowded streets full of pickpockets this approach gives you a priceless peace of mind. There is no better feeling than the awareness that nobody will get to your documents and cash. It makes it easier to focus on enjoying your trip. If you are still hesitating I will show you what happens when things go wrong. Secret Pockets also helping you keep your cash when you swimming of Halong party cruise or any tour of halong bay tours

Let me tell you my story: Lost in BangKok at night

In February my friends and I went to BangKok Water Festival and managed to dance on the official parade. One night we decided to celebrate and joined a street party in the central part of BangKok. It can get
quite rough at night, especially when you are solo. Well, that night I made a mistake of initiating contact with too many locals and not taking the phone with me. It resulted in losing all my friends in the crowd. I found myself in unknown territory, slightly intoxicated, without a T-shirt, a phone, and as I realized, no money.
Guess what? That night I didn’t put any cash into my secret pockets. It was a terrible mistake, which forced me to walk for hours through treacherous neighbourhoods. Let’s leave the full story for the next time though. The point is that even a small pile of  Thai Baht  in my secret pocket would’ve saved me a lot of trouble. I learnt the lesson.